YARM 



i^ijiU^' 



? 



7 



3 



1 



7 



^ 



Digitized by the Internet Arciiive 
in 2010 witii funding from 
Tine Library of Congress 



littp://www.arcliive.org/details/historyofcountyoOOcamp 



HISTORY OF YARMOUTH, 



HISTOEY OF YARMOUTH. 



A MANUSCRIPT HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF YARMOUTH 

Ifaviug been submitted to us by the author, the Rev. J. R. 

Campbell, for our critical examination as to matters of fact, and 

;»eneral accuracy, we, whose names are heremito signed, have 

j,a-eat pleasure in stating that we have thoroughly examined the 

woi-k, in the composition of which, the author must have most 

t-arefully and industriously exhausted all sources of information. 

The arrangement mto several distinct, and yet, well connected 

sections, gi-eatly increases its valu^ as a book of reference, and 

rendex-s tlie whole uairative clear and unconfused. All sti^temeuta 

«)f fact have been carefully verified, and we believe the whole to 

lip an accurate and impartial History of this County. 

J. B. Bond, W. H. Moody, 

G. J. Fakish, L. E. Bakek, 

J. B. Kinney, v T. M. Lewis, 

Fkeeman DtNNIS. 

Yannnitth, Octohr,- Iflt, 1S75. 



N 



A HISTORY 



OF THE 



County op Yarmouth 



NOVA SCOTIA. 




REV. J. R. CAMPBELL. 




\jy()Cy*f,n^yS^ 



PUBLISHED BY J. & A. McMILLAN, SAINT JOHN, N 
1876. 






-< 



V 



o 

v\9 



®o ti)e 
of ll)C 

founts of ^armoutl), 

tl)is iXJork 

is respectfnUp bebicated 

bg 

tlje ^ntI)or. 



YARMOUTH HISTORY. 



The Public who have copies of this work in their 
possession are respectfully requested by the Author 
to make the following corrections. Some are errors 
of the press; the remainder represent the whole of 
the proved results of criticism up till the present 
date-.— 

Page xvi, line 13, for " 3," read " Title page." 
- - - — " "1810,"" "1806." 

" 'authoritities,' read 'authorities' 

" " serried," " " unserried." 

" "grin," " " " grim." 

""him," " "Him." 

" ' eighty-six,' read ' sixty-eight' 

" " 1675 " read " 1768." 

" "Allen's," read "AUme's." 

" "1782," " "1771." 

" "1782," " "1771." 

" "1775?" " "1778." 

" "B. Ellenwood's tan-yard," 

read " W. Lewis' Homestead." 
" "1783," read " 1773." 
" "1765," " " 1764." 
" " has," " " have." 



" 5, 


" 28, 


" 7. 


" 7, 


« 12, 


" 10, 


" 17, 


" 23, 


" 49, 


" 4, 


" 58, 


" 3, 


" 62, 


" 28, 


" 105, 


" 11. 


" 112, 


" 8, 


" 112. 


" 9, 


" 113, 


" 21, 


" 113, 


" 21, 


" 114, 


" 10, 


" 114,' 


" 21, 


« 200, 


" 15, 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



j^ LTHOUGH not as deeply interested, or as directly 
^^ concerned in all the details of the County of Yar- 
mouth, as if he had been born in this County, and had 
listened from childhood to the story of its settlement and 
subsequent progress ; the Author has always considered it 
a duty as well as a pleasure, to gather up particulars illus- 
trative of the Character and Institutions of the people 
amongst whom his lot, for some years, has been cast. 

This more systematic effort to preserve the floating 
traditions and to collect the scattered records of the past, by 
which, when connected with our present condition, the pro- 
gress which has been made, may be appreciated, was the 
result of an invitation issued by the Governors of Kings Col- 
lege, Windsor, for Essays on County Histories, under the 
thoughtful and liberal intelligence of the Akins Foundation. 
I sent them an Essay on the history of this County in 
1872 ; and, from the expressions of satisfaction with which 
they were pleased to accompany the reception of my 
paper, — together with the then general interest in the 



viii History of Yarmouth. 

undertaking, and the subsequent continued solicitations of 
those whose opinions I respect, I have thought it my duty 
to publish the work. 

The volume from the nature of the case cannot be 
expected to be very interesting to many persons uncon- 
nected with the County. Compared with the important 
transactions of great countries, the contents must, to 
unconcerned readers, appear trivial. There is here no 
account of great men, or great measures ; but simply the 
common-place records of a young, but growing community, 
in which there is necessarily much of personal detail, and 
even that confined to a few whose ability to be publicly use- 
ful in one thing usually identified them with many, and to 
whom, therefore, by consequence, frequent reference had to 
be made. But I venture to think that, as all things are 
great or small only by comparison, the details of the affairs 
of this County however insignificant in themselves, are 
more interesting and more important to its people than are 
the details of any other limited part of the world. And 
as every intelligent people loves to know something of its 
past history, I shall have been amply repaid to think that 
some things have been herein preserved, which were fast 
floating away. 

As much accuracy in statement, and moderation in style, 
is required in such a work, as in a greater. In order to 
attain these desirable objects, the manuscript was volun- 
tarily submitted to a number of well informed, independent- 
minded citizens, representing wide Political and Religious 
divergences of opinion ; and their criticism freely invited. 
They were pleased to testify to the general accuracy and 



History of Yarmouth. ix 

impartiality of the whole ; but I wish it to be understood 
that I alone, am responsible for details. 

The Author has endeavoured to verify all his statements, 
by reference to such authorities and sources of information, 
both written and oral, as were available. Council Books, 
Proceedings of Assembly, Township Proprietors' Book, 
Sessions Books, Kecord Books, Journals, Settlers Ledgers, 
and the local Press, have been made to yield up the little or 
much they contained. There have been several Histories 
of Nova Scotia published, which might very reasonably 
have been supposed to have been servicable. But when I 
say that the very latest work on the subject, Mr. Duncan 
Campbell's History of Nova Scotia, contains only a few 
trivial allusions to this County, all of which do not occupy 
half a dozen lines, it will be seen at once how limited is 
the assistance that is to be obtained from such sources. 
Throughout the three volumes of Mr. Murdoch's valuable 
repository of facts for some future historian of Nova Scotia, 
lie scattered references to this County. In Haliburton's 
work, published in 1829, there is a well written notice of 
Yarmouth and Argyle, from the pen of the late Dr. H. G. 
Farish. That gentleman was asked by Mr., afterwards 
Judge Haliburton, to give him the needed reference to those 
places ; and the answer sent was inserted without alteration, 
as I found on examining the papers in possession of several 
members of his family, and which have been kindly lent to 
to me for this work. I have obtained valuable assistance 
from the papers above referred to, and from one or two 
papers in the possession of other private citizens ; although 
the assistance from this source, notwithstanding a long 

A 



X History of Yarmouth. 

continued public advertisement, was astonishingly scanty. 
But more particularly I ought to mention the Record office 
in Halifax. All the books in that and other offices have 
been examined, and extracts made from them of whatever 
was to the purpose. In this work, I was greatly assisted 
by Mr. Thomas Robertson, of the Secretary's office ; to 
whom, together with all others who have aided me, I desire 
to tender my most hearty thanks. More especially I ought 
to mention Drs. G. J. Farish, and J. B. Bond. To the 
former gentleman, both the Reader and the Author are 
more indebted than can well be acknowledged. The com- 
pleteness of the List of dates of arrivals, and places of first 
settlement, is entirely due to his industry. So many have 
contributed separate facts or thoughts, that it would be 
tiresome, as well as pedantic, to parade the list. Where it 
has been practicable, I have recorded circumstances in the 
direct narration : where it has not, I have given authorities 
when necessary; and, where I have thought it would 
answer one purpose or another, as for instance when some 
point is involved, or even when simply amusing, I have 
preserved the original orthography, although it acknow- 
ledges no laws known to Johnson or Worcester. 

The plan of the work is simple. I have endeavoured to 
trace the origin of settlements, and the rise and progress of 
all the Institutions in the County, in, as far as was practic- 
able, the order of their occurrence; interweaving at the 
most suitable time and place, notices of those individual 
citizens, who for their prominence and influence, ought to 
be had in remembrance. 

It is hoped that the illustrations, which are adaptations 



History of Yarmouth. xi 

in wood, from photographs by Mr. L. Gr. Swain, will be 
acceptable. Permission to insert portraits of the late 
Herbert Huntington, Henry Greggs Farish, E. W. B. 
Moody, and Thomas Killam had been obtained ; but, when 
it came to a matter of execution, it was found that the 
available copies were not such as would have done honour 
to the memory of several of those gentlemen. I have 
therefore, for the present, very reluctantly, laid aside this 
whole feature in the work. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

INTKODUOTOEY CHAPTEE vii 



CHAPTEE I. 

Limits of the County. Physical Character. Climate. Natu- 
ral History 1 



CHAPTEE n. 
Introductory Historical Facts. Earhest Eef erences . . 9 ' 

CHAPTEE m. 

Aboriginal Inhabitants. Indian Eehcs. French Settlers and 
Settlements . 16 

CHAPTEE IV. 

Early English Settlers. The County known to American 
fishermen before settled. Goyemment offers to intending . 
Settlers. Grants . . .' 25 



CHAPTEE V. 
The first arriyals. Their locations, condition and first expe- 



riences 



32 



xiv Contents. 

CHAPTER YI. 

PAGE 

Progress of the work of Settlement. Committee appointed 
by Council. Rules for their guidance . . . .39 

CHAPTER YU. 

Continued influx till 1764. First notice of Argyle and Pub- 
nico. Mr. Crawley's Return. Personal references . . 45 

CHAPTER Yin. 

Increase between 1764^7. Township Grant. Marks of pro- 
gress. Grist and Saw MUls 54 

CHAPTER IX. 

Opening up of the County by-roads. Pubhc Worship. First 
Ministers. Chebogue Church raised . . . .59 

CHAPTER X. 

Township of Argyle. When set apart. Successive settlement 
of Argyle, Tusket, Eel Brook and Pubnico. The D' Entre- 
monts 66 

CHAPTER XI. 

Fresh Arrivals. Memorial for a Re-adjustment of County 
limits. Colonial troubles of 1775. Pohtics of the period 77 

CHAPTER Xn. 

Third Decade 1780-90. Loyahst Element in the County. 
Cape Forchue meeting house. Escheated property. Par- 
tition of the Township of Yarmouth. Original Settlers of 
Tusket. Church Covenant of 1784 . . . . . 85 



Contents. xv 

CHAPTEE Xm. 

PAGE 

Commercial progress. Fishing. Early local merchants. 
Yarmouth made a Port of Shelburne. J. N. Bond, 
Eeligious Revolution. Henry AUine. Jonathan Scott. 
Harris Harding. Rehgious Census. Original homes and 
first locations of the early settlers 97 

CHAPTER XTV. 

Opening of the Nineteenth Century. Condition of Roads and 
Bridges. Institution of the Post Office. H. G. Parish. 
Progress in. PubHc Buildings. Episcopal Church. Abb^ 
Sigogne. Social Conveniences 161 

CHAPTER XV. 

Supremacy of Yarmouth gradually asserted. War of 1812-14. 
Loyal Memorial. Defences 126 

CHAPTER XYI. 

The Story of Yarmouth Shipping Enterprise. Anthony 
Landers. Rise of the Methodist body. The Free Baptists. 
Rise and Progress of Sunday Schools .... 132' 



CHAPTER XVn. 

Social Progress from 1800. Negro Slaves. New Settlements. 
Salmon River. KemptviUe. Beaver River. Ohio. 
Hebron. Carleton. Temperance and Total Abstinence 
Societies. Great Eire of 1820 144 



CHAPTER XVni. 

Political and Educational Progress. Confederation. Licor- 
poration. Judicial History of the County. Courts. 
Common Pleas. Our Schools and School-Masters . . 15S> 



SVl 



Contents. 



CHAPTEB XIX. 

Literature. Literary remains. The Press . 



PAGE 

. 168 



CHAPTEE XX. 

Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Settlement 
of Yarmouth i 178 



CHAPTEE XXI. 

The Town of Yarmouth. Churches. Schools. Private 
Eesidences. Banks. Insurance offices. Manufacturers. 
Agricultural Societies. Synopsis. Steam by Land and 
Water. Fisheries. General Trade. Eecapitulation. 
Conclusion 182 



LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. 



I. Vignette : — ^View of Yabmotjth HAUBors, 

II. Tabeenacle Chubch (Congregational), 

in. Temple Church (Baptist), 

IV. Episcopal Chuech, 

V. Pbovidence Chuech (Methodist), . 

VI. Seminaey, 

Vii. Saint John's Chuech (Presbyterian), 

Vm. Eesidenoe of L. E. Bakee, Esq., 
IX. " " N. K. Clements, Esq., 

X. WoBKS OF Kinney, Haley & Co., 



PAGE 

3 
65 
109 
122 
141 
167 
187 
189 
191 
193 



HISTORY OF YARMOUTH. 



CHAPTEK I, 



LIMITS OF THE COTTNTT. PHYSICAL CHARACTER. CLIMATE. 
NATURAL HISTORY. 

JHE present County of Yarmouth, consisting of the 
Township of Yarmouth and the District of Argyle, 
has seen several changes as regards its limits. In the 
year 1761 by order of Council, Yarmouth, Barrington and 
Liverpool Townships were erected into the County of 
Queens. In 1784, by the same authority, Yarmouth, 
Barrington and Shelburne Townships were erected into 
that of Shelburne ; and lastly, in 1836, the present Town- 
ship of Yarmouth and district of Argyle were erected into 
the County of Yarmouth. All that is here said, refers to 
the County as it is now limited. And, in the prosecution 
of this purpose, our first duty is to observe the position, 
boundaries, and physical 'character of the Country whose 
history we are tracing. 

By reference to the Map* it will be readily seen that the 

* I have thought it unnecessary to insert a Map of the County, from the 
consideration that Messrs. Church & Co.'s map is in the main sufficient for 
general purposes, and it is generally accessible. 
B 



2 History of Yarmouth. 

general form of the County is that of a triangle, of which 
tlie Eastern boundary is the Township of Harrington in 
the County of Shelburne, and the Northern boundary the 
Township of Clare in the County of Bigby : whilst the 
South-western shore is washed by the waters of the Atlan- 
tic and the Bay of Fundy. All the Islands lying inside of 
a continuation of the County limits, of which the outer- 
most is the " Seal Island;" commonly called the elbow of 
the Bay of Fundy, are within the County. Those Islands 
are very numerous. Several of them are settled; and some 
of them have no small claim to be called beautiful. In 
Lobster Bay alone, there are said to be the usual tradi- 
tional 365.* The largest in the County are the Seal 
Island; the great Tusket Island and Surrette's Island, 
lying at the mouth of the Tusket Paver ; Morris' Island^ 
in the Abuptic, or Argyle harbotir ; Tinkhajn's, Clement's, 
and Crawley's Island, in the Chebogue harbour ; and Bun- 
ker's Island — which however is more properly a peninsula, 
in the Yarmouth harbour. 

The face of the whole County is greatly diversified ; 
there being a happy blending of wood and water, hill and 
dale. There are nearly one hundred Lakes, upwards of 
ninety of which have been fully explored ; many of them 
are very beautiful, reminding one who has seen both, of 
well known English scenes. 

The Rivers, which all rise in a North-easterly direction, 
A'uu sufiiciently parallel to divide the County into tolerably 
distinct Riverbeds. The most Easterly, as well as the 
smallest, is the Pubnico River ; a corruption of the Indian 

* So the late Abram Lent, Esq. 



History of Yarmouth. 3 

•* Bogbumkook." Proceeding in a westerly direction, the 
next is tlie Aegylb or Abuptic — (Indian "Pobbobteek.") 

The TusKET EivEK is worthy of the Tourist's time ; for 
it is as varied and picturesque in its surroundings, as it is 
well known for its Trout, Salmon and Alewive fisheries. 
Any one in search of the beautiful in Nature, who over- 
looks or despises the Tusket, with its pleasing falls and 
continuous, yet ever varying chain of lakes, will be very 
likely to go further and fare worse. Lake Vaughan, whiehi 
lies above the first falls, and where before 1755 was at 
flourishing French Acadian settlement, is a beautiful sheet 
of water ; and the Carleton system of lakes, viz. : Carle- 
ton, Sloan's, Ogden's and Parr's, can not be surpassed in 
. Nova Scotia for general beauty. 

The Salmon Kivee (the Indian " Ponamagotty " or 
"place of frost fish,") lying still further to the westward^ 
rises in the County of Bigby ; andi, like the rivers already^ 
and those yet to be named, is a pleasing diversity of Lake 
and Stream. The Chebogue River (called by some In- 
dians Itehogiie " Spring Water" — and by others Tecehoke 
" Cold Water") is smaller than those yet referred to; but 
its harbour, dotted with islands and fringed with good 
marsh lands, has the honour of having sheltered the first- 
settlers, both French and English, who ventured on this 
shore. The Yar, commonly called the Yarmouth, on 
which stands the County town, is somewhat larger than 
the Chebogue. The harbour is naturally poor ; but what^ 
has been denied by nature, has been, and is still being; 
supplemented by industry and perseverance. At its moutli 
stands the Lighthouse erected in 1840; at the narrows. 



4 History of Yarmouth. 

there has heen recently erected a Beacon, which was first 
lighted on the night of February 13, 1874 : and a "Break- 
water, which with more or less success depending on the 
stability of the work, prevents the harbour from being ren- 
dered comparatively useless by the action of the sea, throw- 
ing the " Bar" into the channel. 

Still further to the North-westward, is the Chegoggin 
(the Indian Isegogin or "Place for weirs"), which runs 
through a thriving and well settled District. The last 
stream we are to mention, is the Beaver River, in the 
meandering course of which are the Beaver, Darling's, 
Coggen's, and Killam's Lakes. Lake George, if we except 
the not very well known Great Pubnico Lake, is the largest 
in the County; and the second largest — Eossignol in 
Queens claiming the Jirst place — in the Province. 

The frequent falls on the rivers indicate considerable 
variations in the land level. But it would scarcely be true 
to say that the County is hilly ; still less true that there 
are any Mountain ranges. There are high land ridges, on 
which are the best timber trees in the County, running 
■approximately North and South, parallel with the several 
j-'iverbeds. With regard to the 

QUALITY OF THE SOIL, 

it must be confessed that there are other more fertile dis- 
tricts in Nova Scotia. In the opinion of competent judges 
a comparatively small proportion of the land is capable of 
profitable cultivation, although the question of profit is 
evidently one intimately bound up with the amount of 
capital and skill brought to bear on the land. In this 
idirection, the Agricultural Societies have done, and are 



History of Yarmouth. 5 

still doing, a most excellent work. Even within the last 
ten years the minds of those most nearly concerned, have 
undergone a beneficial change on the important branches 
of drainage, manuring, improved implements, and the 
raising of good stock. In addition to the timber lands 
referred to. there are considerable tracts of fair marsh lands 
in the County, about 500 acres of which are dyked, produc- 
ing heavy crops of hay. Excepting small patches at Eel 
Brook and the Wedge, the only dyked lands in the County 
are the Salt Pond and the Chegoggin Marsh. 

The Salt Pond before 1799 was simply " flats ;" but in 
that year it was dyked by twenty-five proprietors at an ex- 
pense of £270. It contains 165 acres, and was originally 
divided into eleven shares. A well authenticated story tells 
how, after this work had been done, and the fine grass was» 
waving where before there had been but water, that an 
Indian who had been away in the Eastern part of the 
Province, came here, as had been his wont, to shoot ducks. 
His exclamation when he saw it, illustrates, I think, the 
relation of the races — "What, white man turn water into 
ground ! " 

The Chegoggin Marsh which contains 320 acres had 
been dyked early in the history of the settlement, possibly 
in Acadian times ; but the work had been rendered practi- 
cally useless, by the enormous beach of pebbles that the 
westerly winter gales threw in upon the Sluices. The 
river being thus shut up, forced a new opening for itself ; 
and, in 1810, it was again closed by a good dyke, with, 
substantial Sluices ; and the ahatteau was protected by a 
long pier running out seaward. From 



6 History of Yarmouth. 

A GEOLOGICAL POINT OF vIeW, 

there is but little to be said which may not be equally 
truly spoken of the whole of the western shore. The pre- 
vailing rock is clay slate, with a general South-westerly 
strike. Here and there, as for instance at Little River, 
Plymouth and Argyle, obtrusive boulders of Granite are to 
be met with : and, I believe, all the Islands have a granite 
base. Throughout the whole County, quartz veins may be 
traced ; and in some places, as at Cranberry Head, in such 
quantities as to have given reasonable hopes of a remuner- 
ative yield to the miner. The Yarmouth gold mining and 
quartz crushing company have opened a mine at that place 
on a lode averaging eighteen inches. Gold has been found 
there, and has been made into " bricks." The only ques- 
tion is whether the gold produced does not cost, as much 
as, or more than, it is worth. But we are by no means 
rich in minerals when compared with other parts of Nova 
Scotia. Plumbago is found on the Tusket Wedge. It is 
turned up when plowing ; and, although small in quantity, 
it is said to be excellent in quality. No endeavour, how- 
ever, has been made to ascertain the extent of the deposit. 
A peculiar purple sand is found in abundance on the east- 
ern shore of Lake George. It is of the colour of the 
amethyst, and like it, it is silicious. 

Hitherto no traces have been found, worth mentioning, 
of fossil remaijis. Infusorial earth has been found in pretty 
large quantities in Ohio. When quite dry, it looks and 
feels like magnesia, and can scarcely be distinguished from 
it. When wet or damp, it feels more like dough or wet clay. 
It is composed of silicious shells of very varied forms, 



History of Yarmouth. 7 

BO small as to be seen only through a powerful micro- 
scope, and so fine as not to scratch delicately polished silver. 
With regard to the 

CLIMATE 

of this County, it is but just to say that although humid 
and very variable, it is described by the most competent 
medical authoritities as healthy above the average.* We 
are indeed at the extreme end of the Province ; but we are 
not extreme in temperature : for the mercury seldom falls 
below zero in the winter, or rises above 80° during the 
summer. Every few years (as in 1865-6 and 1873-4,) 
the mercury may descend to five or six below ; but the mean 
annual temperature, day and night, is 48°. The most 
noticeable feature in the Climate is "the liability to sudden 
changes ; twenty-four hours sometimes sufficing to produce 
a difference in the thermometer of 40 degrees. With re- 
gard to the 

NATUEAL HISTORY 

of Yarmouth there is little to be said in addition to the 
fact that whatever applies to the Province generally, applies 

^Instances of remarkable health and longeyity are not wanting. In the 
Will of James Kelley, Esquire, dated 1806; he says — " I give and bequeath 
" the remaining two-thirds of my estate real and personal among my chil- 
"dren James Kelley, Samuel Kelley, Marg't Clemmons, Sarah Philips, 
" Eunice Hilton, Jacob Kelley, Martha Trask, Mary Rose, Annis Crosby, 
"Bertha Rose, Hannah Kelley, Betsy Kelley, Robert Kelley, and Israel 
" Kelley, in equal proportions." These children were all living and mar- 
ried, when the youngest of the family was fifty years of age. When the 
late Mr. James Hatfield, of Tusket Lakes, died in 1867, he left an unbroken 
family of fourteen sons and daughters, the youngest of whom had attained 
manhood. 

And a well authenticated story of Paul D'Entremont tells how that that 
old gentleman requested his sons to hang a scythe for him, or he should 
certainly forget how to mow. He was then over ninety. And, Simon, the 
oldest living member of that Acadian family, mowed half an acre or more 
the day that I spent with him. He was then eighty-five. 



8 History of Yarmouth. 

equally to this County particularly. I believe I am correct 
in saying that there is no plant nor insect, no bird nor 
animal found here, that is not found elsewhere. There is, 
as might reasonably have been expected, a large proportion 
and variety of sea fowl, and a small proportion and limited 
variety of forest birds : although it is a curious fact, that 
the English woodcock is rapidly increasing. Our insular 
position, together with our numerous inland lakes, ade- 
quately account for those facts. Civilization has well nigh 
banished several valuable species from the County. The 
days are gone when a local merchant can send ninety-five 
moose skins to the Boston market, as one did a hundred 
years ago. 



CHAPTEE n. 

INTRODUCTORY HISTORICAL FACTS. EARLIEST REFERENCES. 

tT would be foreign from the direct object of this work to 
give any detailed account of the general history of Nova 
Scotia. It may be with safety assumed that any one who 
would be sufficiently interested in this paper to read it 
carefully, will not have neglected the larger subject of the 
whole. • Still, a rapid 

REVIEW OF SOME PERTINENT GENERAL FACTS 

may not be entirely out of place, as leading to the main 
object which we have Si view. 

Passing by the undoubted, but half mythical excursions 
to this Continent, of the Northmen ; the first well authen- 
ticated knowledge of the new world was made known by 
Sebastian Cabot in 1498. But, beyond the fact of his dis- 
covery of Newfoundland, little or nothing was done until 
Gilbert took more formal possession in 1583. The earliest 
attempt at the colonization of Nova Scotia was made by the 
Marquis de la Eoche under Henry IV. of France in 1598. 
But a more definite attempt was made by De Monts in the 
year 1604, the narrative of whose voyage is most interest- 
ing, on many accounts. In 1621 Acadia (or "Cadia" or 
"Acadie" as with varying limitations that term was 
applied by the French) together with other extensive 
territories was granted by James the First to Sir William 



10 History of Yarmouth. 

Alexander: and it was he who gave to Acadia the name 
Nova Scotia. 

Alexander afterwards conveyed the whole Province to 
Claude de la Tour. In his time further French settlements 
were made : and to some of his descendants in this County, 
the D'Entremonts of Pubnico, we shall make some exten- 
ded reference. Many and violent were the changes that 
the first settlers of this Province had to submit to, from 
«ver varying masters, and contending owners of the soil. 
At one time England, at another France, ruled them ; until 
by the Treaty of Utrecht, Nova Scotia was finally ceded to 
England. At this time the inhabitants were almost exclu- 
sively Indians and French ; there was but a mere handful 
of English descent. The able-bodied warriors among the 
Indians were computed at about 3000. All the French did 
not exceed 18,000; and altogether*, they were not many 
more than the inhabitants of this County now number. 

REFERENCES TO THIS COUNTY BEFORE 1759, 

in which year the name of Yarmouth (in the first general 
grant) was given to it, are few, but distinct, although sim- 
ply incidental. Yarmouth does not figure very largely in 
the early history of the Province ; neither are the names of 
such localities as can be identified, often mentioned by old 
writers. Still, our forked Cape clothed to its summit with 
primeval forest, must have formed a very prominent object ; 
and must have been well known to such "Ancient Mari- 
ners" as coasted along our shores from the forts on the 
Saint John Eiver, Cumberland Basin, Minas Basin, and 
Annapolis Basin on their voyages to Le Heve, Canseau, 
and La Belle France. 



History of Yarmouth. 11 

The first notice that we have, has a sfbgular value, inas- 
much as it gives us the origin of, and the reason for naming 
the Seal Islands and Cap Fourchu. De Monts was accom- 
panied in his expedition by Samuel Le Sieur Cbamplain, 
who appears to have been the chronicler of the expedition, 
as well as to have had the command of one of the ships. 
They reached Le Heve in May 1604. After spending a 
month there, they coasted along the south-west, doubled 
Cape Sable and entered the Bay of " Fundi," which was 
then -called La Baie Francaise. After crossing a bay (pro- 
bably "Lobster") which runs in two or three leagues to 
the northward, they came to some islands, four or five 
leagues distant from Cape Sable. Here they found abund- 
ance of seals, and very appropriately named them the " Seal 
Islands" (Isles aux Loups Marins). Thence they went on 
to a Cape which Champlain named Port Fouechu* "in as 
" much as," he says, "its figure is so;" that is "forked." 
He also describes it being five or six leagues distant from 

*It may not be otherwise than amusing to the reader to see what inge- 
nious variations persons writing the French words Cap Fourchu displayed , 
when ignorant of that language. The following list comprises thirty out 
of fifty known corruptions which have all been met with in old writings : 
Cape Arsue, Cape frasoe, Capersoe, 

Capersue, Capresue, Capporsoe, 

Caporsue, Capefurshue, Capforsue, 

Capfersu, Cape forseu, Cappersheu, 

Capersu, Cappersew, Oapperforchue, 

Cape Forcu, Cappersue, Cape forchue, 

Cape-pursue, • Capforksoe, Cape-Forchue, 

Cape au Sud, Cappersoe, Cap-Forchue, 

Capeosoe, Capfursoe, Cape fortune, 

Caprosoe, Cape forchu. Cap Forchu. 

Excepting such places where the pure French form, or where corrupt 
Anglicized forms quoted in documents are used, the form adhered to 
throughout this work is Cape Forchue. 



12 . History of Yarmouth. 

the Seal Islands. ' Speaking of the harbour he says : "It 
" is very good for vessels, as regards its entrance ; but fur- 
" ther up it is almost all dry at low tide, with the exception 
" of the course of a small river, all surrounded by meadows, 
" which renders the place very agreeable." It is certainly 
a highly flattering account of our mud flats to describe 
them as meadows, and as rendering the place very agree- 
able. No doubt, to a casual visitor in the spring of the 
year and when as yet the long fresh green eel grass was 
undisturbed and serried by the keels of vessels and the hoe 
of the clam digger, it would present a much more .pleasing 
object than it does now ; although it requires some exercise 
of imagination to speak of the flats as "Meadows." Had 
Champlain been at the time describing Chehogiie harbour, 
or even Chegoggin Eiver, which is within the range of the 
probable, as some have thought he haust, this delightful 
picture might have been approximately true.* ' 

Nine years after this, in 1613, when De la Saussage was 
on his way from Penobscot to France, after his capture by 
the English, he called at Grand Manan, Long Island, Cap 
Fourchu and Port Monton. But it is not stated either by 
Champlain, or by Saussage, whether there were any inhabi- 
tants here. It is extremely unlikely that there were. 

* I have thought it may interest the reader to be presented with Champ- 
Iain's own words: — 

" Je les nommai isles aux loups marins. Elles sont par la hauteur de 
quarante-trois degres et demi de latitude, distantes de la terre ferme ou 
Cap de Sable de quatre a. cinque lieues- De la Ton va a un Cap que J' 
appelai le Port Fourchu, d' autant que sa figure est ainsi, distant des isles 
aux loups marins cinz a six lieues. Ce port est fort bon pour les vaisseaux 
en son entree, mais au fond il asseche presque tout de basse mer, hors le 
cours d' une petite riviere, toute environnee de prairies qui rendent ce lieu 
assez agreable." 



History of Yarmouth. 13 

Jean de Laite in his work " The New World," published 
in 1633, describing Cadia or Acadia, says : *' It is of a tri- 
" angular form, and stretches from east to west between the 
" harbours of Campseau and Cap Fourchu." He then de- 
scribes the Cape and the Seal Islands in very nearly the 
words of Champlain, from whom his account is plain- 
ly copied. He calls Lobster Bay, however, "La Bale 
Courante;" and the Tusket Islands "Isles aux Tangueux" 
or Gannet Islands. 

In 1630 Sir William Alexander gave to La Tour and his 
son "all the Country, Coasts and islands from the cape 
" and river of Ingogon near unto the Cloven Cape in New 
" Scotland called the Coast and Country accadye, following 
" the coast and islands of the said Country towards the east 
" unto the 'Port De lat tour.' " It is difficult not to believe 
that Ingogon and the " Cloven Cape" (the first translation 
we meet with of Cap Fourchu) are not Chegoggin and Yar- 
mouth Cape. No two other places of similar names lie as 
closely together ; nor are any two other points to be found 
affording contiguous starting places from which, sailing 
east, to arrive at Port La Tour. 

With regard to the expedition sent out from Boston in 
1664, when Port Koyal capitulated, it is recorded that 
among the places taken possession of were Penobscot, Saint 
John, Port Eoyal, La Have, Port Le Tour, Cape Sable and 
Cap Fourchu. With the exception of the last mentioned 
place, all the others were forts of some importance. The 
taking of the Cap may be in connection with a fort here of 
which no record remains ; or, as is more likely, it may 
have been taken possession of, only as an important strategic 



14 History of Yarmouth. 

point. Villabon -writing in 1699 fully forty years later, 
does not include it in the list of forts. 

On August 9tli, 1656, Cromwell granted to La Tour and 
others '' the Country and Territory called Acadia from 
** Meliguesche (Meliguash near Lunenburg) * * '* * 
" as far as Lettebe (?) ; thence * * * * * as far as 
"Cape Sable; thence ***** as far as Cccpe 
" Forchue ; thence as far as Port Royal, etc, etc." 

By a census taken in 1671, Poboncom is said to be near 
the " TousQUET (Tusket) Isles." 

In 1707 (Dec.) M. D. Goutins, in a letter to the French 
minister, speaks of a wreck near Caj) Fourclm, which had 
been visited by three of the sons of Le Sieur de Pobomcoup. 
Those were sons of the first D'Entremont of Pubnico. 

M. Beauharnois, Governor of Canada, in a letter to the 
French king dated October 10, 1731, says Acadie, according 
to its ancient limits should only be that part of the large 
peninsula, which is comprised and bounded by a straight 
line from Cape Camceau to Caj) Fourchu. 

In the month of December, 1735, the brigantine " Balti- 
more" put into Chebogue harbour (called in one place 
Jebogue and in another Tibogue) having only one woman 
on board when found. All other persons who had been on 
board were supposed either to have been lost, or murdered 
by the Indians. Eight dead bodies were found on the 
shores of the Tusket Islands ; but nothing was ever satis- 
factorily brought to light. The impression prevailed that 
there were convicts on board, of whom the woman was one ; 
that they had risen against the crew, and had all perished 
in their endeavour to laud. An extensive correspondence 



History of Yarmouth. 15 

on the subject followed between Governor Armstrong and 
Mr. St. Oyide, (Governor of Louisburg), the Duke of New- 
castle, the Lords of Trade, Governor Belcher of Mass., the 
D'Entremonts of Pubnico, and the Cape Sable Indians, 
The vessel was taken to Annapolis and remained there as 
late as 1742 for want of a claimant. 

In the autumn of 1739 Landre and eight others, French 
inhabitants of Annapolis,, removed to TJiehogue; built some 
kind of houses and lived there for the winter. Objection 
having been made to their occupancy, they petitioned for 
leave to remain ; which petition was granted ; but they 
were forbid to dyke or claim any lands. 

The unsettled state of affairs in 1748 required all per- 
sons removing from one place to another, to obtain pass- 
ports. On April the 23rd of that year, we find it recorded 
that Governor Mascarene granted a passport for the shallop 
"Maria Joseph," Chas. Boudrot master, in which were 
Ambrosia Melanpon, Honore Bourg (Bourque), Marguer- 
ette Pommicoup ("Margaret of Pnhnico," — evidently a 
D'Entremont) and Marguerette La Maclague, passengers^ 
to proceed from Annapolis to Tibogue, Pommicoup River ^ 
Baccareux Passage, and Cape Sable, but not beyond. 

Those are I believe all the references which have been 
presented in known writings, to any and every place in the 
County of Yarmouth, before the French Acadian expulsion. 
They are few, but we may value them none the less on that, 
account. It will have been noticed that the D'Entremonts 
have been frequently referred to, as persons of some note ; 
but still not sufficiently influential to have been spared at. 
the general deportation of 1755. 



CHAPTEE III. 

ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS. INDIAN RELICS. FRENCS 
SETTLERS, AND SETTLEMENTS. 

wT is impossible to say when this County was first visited 
^ or peopled, if we may use that expression, by 

INDIANS. 

As far back as any facts are recorded (witness the corruption 
of the Indian " Isagogin^' into " Ingogen"), their presence 
is traceable. But, whether there were any considerable 
numbers of them is equally indeterminate. Nor can we 
tell whether of the two tribes by whom the Province gener- 
ally was inhabited, viz. : the Milicetes and the Mic Macs, 
was the one that penetrated west ; or, if there were mem- 
bers of both tribes. Go where we will, however, through- 
out the County, there are traces of their former presence in 
the names of Lakes, Rivers, Coves, Harbours and Points. 
The following verses on the Indian names in the Province, 
are interesting in themselves ; and also from the circum- 
stance that they are from the facile pen of our citizen Mr. 
Ptichard Huntington : — 

* The memory of the Red Man, 

How can it pass away, 
While their names of music linger, 

On each mount, and stream, and bay? 
While Musquodoboit's waters 

Roll sparkling to the main ; 
While falls the laughing sunbeam 

On Chegcgin's fields of grain. 



Hhtory of Tarmouth. 17 

While floats our country's banner 

O'er Chebucto's glorious -wave ; 
And the frowning cliffs of ScatakiE 

The trampling surges braye ; 
While breezy AspotoGON 

Lifts high its summit blue, 
And sparkles on its winding way 

The gentle Sissibou. 

While EscAsoNi'a fountains 

Pour down their crystal tide ; 
While Inganish's mountains 

Lift high their forms of pride ; 
Or while on Mabou's river 

The boatman plies his oar, 
Or the billows burst in thunder 

On Chicaben's rock-girt shore. 

The memory of the Eed Man, 

It lingers like a spell 
On many a storm-swept headland, 

On many a leafy dell ; 
Where Tusket's thousand islets 

Like emeralds stud the deep ; 
Where Blomidon a sentry grin 

His endless watch doth keep. 

It dwells round Catalone's blue lake, 

Mid leafy forests hid — 
Eound fair Discouse, and the rushing tides 

Of the turbid Pisiquid. 
And it lends, Chebogue, a touching grace, 

To thy softly flowing river. 
As we sadly think of the gentle race 

That has passed away forever. 

But those names that remain are nearly all that remain. 
Sixty years ago, in- the memory of the late Abram Lent, 
they were sufficiently numerous to meet their friend and 
pastor, the late Abbe Sigogne at Saint Anne's Chapel, Eel 
Brook, in a body of a hundred and fifty at a time. I have 
endeavoured to collect and preserve those names and their 
c 



18 History of Yarmouth. 

meanings, as far as possible. But the results are hot veiy 
satisfactory. There are now resident, and that only occa- 
sionally about thirty Indians in the County;* but if we 
except an occasional excursion to town to sell their baskets, 
we see but little of them, and that little serves to convince 
us that before long, we shall see less. 

The only substantial Indian relics that remain, are a 
considerable number of arrow and spear heads, and several 
tomahawks or hatchets, the materials of which are both 
flint and slate. There are also several pieces of flint about 
the size of the end of a man's thumb, rounded on one side 
and hollow on the other. These it is thought were used 
for cutting wood. Most of those implements were found 
in 1863 at Kempt in a hillock or mound of ten feet long, 
five feet broad, and raised about four feet above the sur- 
rounding surface. The spot was visited at the time by a 
gentleman! who recorded his opinion that the spot marked 
the site of an ancient Indian burying place. He accounted 
for the absence of human bones from decay; the bodies 
having in all probability been buried near to the surface. 
The most noticeable feature about those remains is the 
excellence of their finish. But the spot where Indian 
relics have been found in the greatest number is in the 
vicinity of Mr. Charles E. Brown's property at Milton. 
Similar remains have also been found at the Wedge. 
By the kindness of Dr. Joseph Bond and Charles E. 
Brown, Esq., the remains found at Kempt, together with 
a collection of those found at Milton, have been depo- 

*By the Census of 1871, there are thirty-seyen. 
t Dr. Joseph B. Bond. 



History of Yarmouth. 19 

sited in the County Museum founded in 1872 by L. E. 
Baker, Esq. 

Grenerally speaking the Indians have a name for being 
peaceable and inoffensive; but like all whose minds are 
untrained, they are liable to sudden outbursts of passion. 
When thwarted in their wishes they have been known to 
commit outrage and destroy property. It is a well authen- 
ticated fact, that about the year 1772 John and Benjamin 
Barnard were visited in rather an unpleasant manner by a 
drunken Indian. They kept a store on Fish Point, on the 
west side of the harbour, and when they refused to supply 
him with drink, which article, contrary to the then common 
practice, they never sold, he set fire to the store that night, 
and everything was destroyed. But the disposition of the 
Indians to the settlers may be traced in their subsequent 
conduct in this affair. The tribe determined to punish 
him, it is said by death ; but the Barnards interceded for 
him, and his life was spared. 

There are misty stories afloat about the annoyance the 
wives and children of the first settlers had to submit tO' 
from untimely and unwelcome visits from the children of 
the forest. But with the exception of the before mentioned 
act of violence, the worst effects of their excursions appear 
to have been mothers frightened for their frightened chil- 
dren, and their scanty meal bags levied upon by self-invited 
guests. But on the other hand, if they did black mail the 
settlers' pantries, they supplied their larders ; for they fre- 
quently brought them game of all kinds, as well as fresh 
.fish which were very abundant. And, it is no unauthenti- 
cated tradition, that during that terrible first winter,, the 



20 



History of Yarmouth. 



Indians supplied tlie new comei-s with eels and the flesh of 
the moose, to the extent of saving their lives.* 

More than a hundred years ago, there was at Milton on 
the site of Mr. William Burrill's house, a permanent Indian 
encampment, or rather settlement. Their wigwams were 
covered with skins. At that time the spot must have suited 
them admirably ; being at once in the woods and in the 
immediate vicinity of water, fresh and salt. To this Indian 
rendezvous, were the settlers' children in the habit of 
going, nor is there any tradition even, of their being violent. 
I have here appended a careful list of the principal 

INDIAN NAMES OF PLACES IN THE COUNTY. 



ANGLICIZED NAMES. 


INDIAN NAME. 


SIGNIFICATION. 


Yarmouth (Cape), 


Keespougiac, 


" A Point of Land." 


" (Harbour), 


Molegueoke, 


" Crooked Channel." 


Kelley's Cove, 


Walnaic, 


Any Cove. 


Bunker's Island, 


Menegook, 


Any Island. 


Cliegoggin (Cove), 


Isagogin, 


" Place for Wares." 


Chebogue (River), 


'Itebogue or 


"Spring Water." 


" " 


Te-ceboke, 


" Cold Water." 


Tusket Wedge, ( 


Olsegon and 


[Uncertain.] 


s . y 


Nizigouziack, 




Bel Brook, 


Ooptomagogin, 


" Place for Eels." 


Salmon River, 


Ponamagotty, 


" Place for frost fish." 


Abuptic (Argyle), 


Pobbobteek, 


[Uncertain.] 


Pubnico, 


Bogbumkook, 


[Uncertain.] 


Tusket Village, 


Anglaseawagatty, 


Place where the English 
live. This is late Indian. 


Forks, 


Mawtookyac, 


" Place where two 
Rivers meet." 


Bad Falls, 


Assookcumkaknuc, 


" Crossing Place." 


Argyle Lake, 


Mespag, 


" Sheet of Water." 


Seal Island, 


Caman, 


" Far off Island." 


Mud Island, 


Camanjitch, 


" Little far off Island." 


Strawberry Point, 


Quesawseutee, 


" Projecting Marsh." 


Cranberry Head. 


Soonecaty, 


" Place for Cranberries." 



. * That the Indians were in the habit of supplying the settlers in very 
early times with Moose meat, and that at rates that raise a sigh for " the 



History of Yarmouth. 21 

We leave the condition of tlie Indian or aboriginal inha- 
bitants, for those who came next after them, 

TBE FEENCH ACADIANS, 

of whom there were several settlements before and at the 
time of the extradition. We have little but conjecture to 
guide us, as to when those settlements were made, but we 
may safely conclude that there were no Acadians estab- 
lished here before 1656, the date of the grant of this district 
by Cromwell to La Tour. But objection having been made 
to Landre and his company settling at Chebogue in 1739, 
shows that already a well understood ownership of the land 
there situate existed, apart from the implied existence of 
dyked marsh lands in that locality. 

There is but little known of the Ghegoggln settlement. 
The fact, however, is well authenticated, and may even 
yet be attested by the still visible cellars of the old French 
houses. The site was afterwards taken up as a farm, by the 
first John Killam about the year 1766; the chapel and 
burial ground being on the west side of the river, opposite 
the gold crusher. It was from this settlement that a girl 
having strayed to gather berries, found on her return that 
all her family had been carried away. She fled to the 
Indians for safety; and, in after years, when her family 
returned, she could not persuade herself to leave the people 

good old times" in that respect at least, the following curious examples 
will show : — 

" Paid Indon Peter for 16 flbs. Moe Met, @ l^d. [called also 

Cap. Peter, and again Old Peter] , £0 2s. Qd. 

For 14^ lbs. mos, (S) Ifd 1 9 

" 19 lbs. of mosmet 2 4^ 

" 7| lbs. of mos meet @ 3 copers per lb 1 0^." 

Each of those items illustrates a curious orthographical variation. 



22 History of Yarmouth. 

with whom she had cast in her lot. A very few still liviiig 
recollect having seen her, as an old woman coming to town 
with the Indians. 

The Chehogue settlement suffered in the same way as 
Chegoggin. This was the most important settlement in the 
County, and was situate on both sides of the Kiver, near to 
the end of Wyman's road. Here, as in the case of other 
villages, traces of former abodes of peace may yet be seen. 
On the eastern side of the river, on Durkee's farm, were the 
Cemetery and Chapel. The visible traces are being greatly 
lessened; and I cannot forbear quoting the words of one 
who loved to dwell upon such scenes, and gather up remi- 
niscences respecting them : " The little village covering the 
" southern slope of the eminence on the west bank of the 
" river, near the point where the running dyke now leaves 
" the upland, must have been' a delightful situation. Forty- 
" five years ago (1803) when first I knew it, it was a seques- 
* ' tered spot, encompassed with a young spruce grove which 
" had sprung up since its abandonment; but many of the 
"cellars, the fallen walls of the potato gardens, and the 
"neglected and unpruned apple trees, ofi"ered themselves 
"to the observation of even a casual passer-by. It was a 
" spot well calculated to arrest the attention of the contem- 
" plative traveller, — to awaken pensive recollections, — and 
" carry the mind back to the simple and primitive scenes of 
"which that area had been the theatre, and those ancient 
" trees the witnesses."* 

Passing by the Eel Brook and Tusket Acadians, of 
whom really nothing is known before the extradition, we 

*The late Dr. H. G. Farish. 



History of Yarmoutft. 23 

iKitiee the Lake Vaughan settlement, 'around the stern 
and sanguinary facts of which there is a romantic interest. 
It has heen thought that this Acadian village was later 
than those already mentioned, that in fact, it was a place 
of refuge to which the inhahitants of Tusket and Eel 
Lake fled, when they learnt the intentions of the gov- 
ernment. It lies ahout fifteen miles in the interior, — 
a beautiful spot. The settlement, which was between Mr. 
John Keynard's and the bridge was eompaet and populous, 
as the number and contiguity of the cellars till lately testi- 
fied. The last few years, however, have served to almost 
entirely remove every trace of their whereabouts. Their 
pursuers tracked them ; and the tradition is, that a boat 
despatched from an armed vessel at the mouth of the river, 
ascended the Tusket and its chain of lakes in search of the 
refugees. They were piloted by an Indian, who played 
them false. When within a mile or so of the village at a 
narrow part of lake Yaughan, where the river is contracted 
to the width of twenty or thirty yards, a strong ambuscade 
had been placed ; and when sufiiciently near, so complete 
was the attack, their assailants by the first volley, killed or 
wounded the whole party. This transient victory protected 
them for the time, but finally they were nearly all captured 
and exiled. Those who escaped took to the woods, and 
associated with the Indians. The vessel here referred to, 
was probably that which was placed at the service of Major 
Prebble, who was instructed to put into Cape Sable and 
some of the adjacent harbours, on his way to Boston. 

The only remaining Acadian Settlement to be noticed is 
that at Pubnico, or Pohomcon as it was called by the 



24 History of Yarmoidh. 

French ;* a name which was given to a gentleman of Nor- 
mandy, with the title of Baron, by Charles de la Tour de 
St. Etienne, " Lord of Cape Sable and Lieut, of the King 
in Acadie." This gentleman, the Baron of Pobomcon, as 
he was called, was Philip D'Entremont. La Tour made 
him his Major General ; and subsequently successive alli- 
ances united the two families. 

So far, on both sides, this respectable family are con- 
nected with the French Nohlesse. Notwithstanding, this 
fact did not procure them any immunity ; nor did it serve 
to secure their property, which was at that time consider- 
able. Their lands extended from Cape Sable to Port 
Royal, all along the coast and for several nailes back. 
They were carried to Walpole, in the neighbourhood of 
Boston, where they remained for about eleven years : from 
whence we shall notice their return at the right time and 
place. 

The ancestral home of the D'Entremonts was Cherbourg ; 
where several of them fled in 1755, and where, in all prob- 
ability their descendants are still living. 

* Pobomcoup, Pommicoup, Poiimicoup, Pobomcon, Pugnico and Pubnico, 
are French and English variations of the Indian Bogbumkook, 



CHAPTEE IV. 

EARLY ENGLISH SETTLERS. THE COUNTY KNOWN TO AMERICAN 

FISHERMEN BEORE SETTLED. GOVERNMENT OFFERS 

TO INTENDING SETTLERS. GRANTS. 

f|Ol)0PULAELY speaking, Yarmouth is said to have been 
^ settled on the 

9th of JUNE, 1761. 
For on that day three families arrived on these shores, the 
parent stems of many fruitful boughs, which have since 
filled the land. 

But I think the fact not unworthy of notice that this 
County was not, before that time, altogether an unknown 
land. Men go wherever there is a fair prospect of reward 
for their labour, and especially is this true of a hardy sea- 
faring people. For years before any families settled in this 
County, our harbours of Yarmouth and Chebogae were 
the resort of American fishermen. Whether they were in 
the habit of coming here before the French inhabitants 
were expelled may be a moot question ; but one which I 
should feel inclined to answer in the affirmative. 

Be that as it may, the proclamations which were issued 
by Governor Lawrence from time to time, were not made 
to people who knew nothing of the Province. One inference 
which has been made from the fact of the sufferings endured 
.by the new-comers during the first season arose out of 
their ignorance of the requirements of the County during 



26 • History of Yarmouth. 

the Avinter season, as much as from their scanty sup- 
plies. However this was, there were among the original 
settlers those who knew the coast well ; who came here 
for the fishing season each year, and who would not 
therefore have heen wholly unacquainted with their new 
home. 

But the amount of available information obtainable by 
those who intended to settle in this County is easily ascer- 
tained. After the French Acadians had been deported, 
many of them into New England, the fact that there was 
a vacant Province abounding with valuable lands, wild and 
cultivated, well supplied with water power, and whose 
rivers, harbours, bays and shores abounded with all kinds 
of fish, where nothing was wanted but inhabitants to take 
possession, could not have been long unknown or undesired 
when known. But, whatever may have been the amount 
of definite information generally diffused before, after the 
publication of Governor Lawrence's proclamation dated 
Halifax, October 12, 1758, the position, though not alto- 
gether clear, was sufficiently well defined. That document 
is so pertinent to a number of questions, as well as another 
proclamation that followed, that I shall insert both : 

"Whereas by the late success of his Majesty's arms in the reduction of 
" Cape Breton and its dependencies, as also by the demolition and entire 
" destruction of Gaepee, Meremachi, and other French settlements on tha 
" Gulph of St. Lawrence, and in the Saint John Eiver in the Bay of Fun- 
" day, the enemy who have formerly disturbed and harrassed the Province 
"of Nova Scotia, and much obtruded its progress, have been compelled to 
" retire and to take refuge in Canada, a favourable opportunity now pre- 
"sents for the peopling and cultivating as well the land vacated by the 
' ' French as every other part of this valuable Province. I have therefore 
" thought fit, with the advice of his Majesty's Council, to issue this procla- 
" mation, declaring that I shall be able to receive any proposals that may 



History of Yarmouth. 27 

" be made hereafter to me for effectually settling the said vacated or any 
" other lands within the Province aforesaid, a description whereof, and of 
" the advantages arising from their peculiar nature and situation, I have 
" ordered to be published with this proclamation." 

I have been unable to find the ''description'' referred 
to ; no copy has been preserved in the Record Office ; but 
it very probably supplied the leading facts of just such in- 
formation as men intending to emigrate to a new country 
would require. The immediate result of this proclama- 
tion was, that companies of intending emigrants from 
different parts of New England, New York, Connecticut, 
and even from Philadelphia, were formed. The first 
intending settlers of this County were partly, if not 
principally, from Philadelphia. When those companies 
were formed, they appointed Agents to negotiate the 
business; and in all probability, they were also the 
Executive. 

Whatever the extent of the information given by Gov. 
Lawrence was, it was deficient upon certain details, with- 
out the knowledge of which, intending settlers would not 
move. Within three months after issuing this invitation 
and "information,'" there were numerous enquiries as to ' 
what encouragement the Government held out? what 
quantity of land ? what quit rent or taxes ? what quantity, 
or if any provisions would be given at the first settlement ? 
and something fuller with regard to the form of Govern- 
ment, and the question of Religion. The consequence was 
that on the 11th of January, 1759, a second proclamation 
was issued, which, inasmuch as it has not been included 
in the selection of public documents known as the Nova 
Scotia Archives, and is yet full of interesting matter other- 



28 History of Yarmouth. 

wise generally inaccessible, I have inserted the latter part 
of it at full length : 

" By his Majesty's Royal instructions to me, I am empowered to make 
" grants in the following proportions, viz : that Townships shall consist of 
" 100,000 acres of land, or about 12 miles square; that they do include the 
" best and most profitable land ; and that they do comprehend such rivers 
"as maybe at or near such settlement, and do extend as far up into the 
" Country as conveniently may be, taking in a necessary part of the sea 
" coast. That the quantities of land granted will be in proportion to the 
" abilities to plant, cultivate, or enclose the same, viz: that 100 acres of 
" wild wood lands will be allowed to every person being master or mistress 
" of a family for himself or herself, and fifty acres for every white or black 
" man, woman or child, of which such person's family shall consist at the 
"actual time of making the grant, subject to the payment of a quit rent of 
"one Shilling sterling per annum for every fifty acres; such quit rent to 

"commence at the' expiration often years from the date of each grant 

"That the grantees will be obliged by their said grants to plant, cultivate, 
"improve, or enclose one third part of their land in ten years, another 
" third within twenty years, and the remaining third within a space of 
" thirty years from the date of their grants. 

"That no person can possess more than 1000 acres grant in his or her 

"own name 

" That as to government, it is constituted like to those of the neighbour- 

"ing Colonies, and every township, as soon as it shall consist of fifty 

"families, will be entitled to send two representatives to the Assembly 

"That as to the article of Religion, full liberty of conscience is 

" secured to persons of all persuasions. Papists excepted, Protestants, 

" dissenting from the Church of England, whether they be Calvinists, Lu- 
" therans, Quakers, or imder what denomination soever, shall have free 
"liberty of conscience, and may erect and build meeting houses for public 
" worship, and may choose and elect ministers for the carrying on Divine 
" service and administration of the sacraments, according to their sevei-al 

"opinions 

"That no taxes have hitherto been laid upon his Majesty's subjects in 
" this Province ; nor are there any fees of oiEce taken upon issuing the 

"grants of land That I am not authorized to ofi"er any bounty of pro- 

" visions." 

This proclamation was issued on January 11th, 1759, 
and in about six months, parties to the number of one 
hundred and thirty-three, residing in different parts of 



History of Yarfaouth. 29 

New England, and Philadelphia, and Nova Scotia, applied 
for and obtained a grant of the Township of Yarmouth, 
which was recorded on the 1st of September of that year. 
For reasons which probably can never be known, 

THIS FIRST GRANT WAS NOT TAKEN UP, 

and, out of the one hundred and thirty4hree names men- 
tioned in it, not more than ten appear either in subsequent 
grants, or in the after history of the County. Evidently, 
some disagreement must have -occurred which caused the 
grant practically to break through. In this respect, Yar- 
mouth is not alone. The books in the Crown lands office 
show duplicate or triplicate whole separate grants of Town- 
ships made at different times to different parties. And a 
close examination into the causes would probably result in 
the opinion that speculation and land-jobbing were neither 
unknown nor unpractised in those early days of the Pro- 
vince any' more than it is capable of proof that the art has 
since been forgotten. 

When it was evident to hona-Jlde intending settlers that 
the grant of September 1st, 1759, could not be acted upon 
so as that the Government conditions upon which the lands 
were to be held, could be complied with, and their title be 
secured, those who really meant to emigrate to this part of 
the Province appear to have taken up a new grant, which 
was recorded (January 8th, 1760) only four months after 
the first. The terms in which the grant is expressed are 
similar to those in the first. 

This- second grant of the whole Township (100,000 
acres), recorded on January 8th, is immediately followed 
by another, recorded on the same day, granting to several 



30 . History of Yarmouth. 

parties mentioned in the preceding grant of the whole, 
27,000 acres. I confess when I read these several grants, 
and others with them, I had very great difficulty in recon- 
ciling them. But I have come to the conclusion, that as 
grants cost nothing to take out, they were taken out at 
random, or on speculation ; that intending settlers were 
baulked in their endeavours by being associated with parties 
who had no intention to settle ; the terms of the grants 
being such as to make thejn valid only in the event of all 
the parties named in the body of the grant jointly, as well 
as severally, complying. I observe that in the grant of 
September 1st, 1759, one Thomas Anderson was a party, — 
indeed his name is first on the list, although he is not 
mentioned in the preamble reciting the fact that an appli- 
cation had been made. And in the subsequent grant of 
the whole, dated January 8th, 1760, he is still at the head 
of the list. And in the partial grant of the same day and 
date, amounting to 27,000 acres, he is the first named. I 
am of opinion that Anderson saw that there was danger, as 
it actually happened, that the second grant might fall 
through ; and, being in earnest, the smaller grant of the 
same date was a kind of a confirmatory grant, holding 
good to the several parties separately. Be that as it may, 
anxious though he seems to have been to settle in Yar- 
mouth, he does not appear in the list of grantees of the 
Township made in 1767 : nor does it appear that he ever 
came here. 

I think it worth recording, that the name of the County, 
or Township, first appears in the grant made in September,. 
1759, in which it is provided that the tract of land hitherto- 



History of Yarmouth. 31 

^known as CajDe Forcliue, shall be '^ a Township, to be called 
" hereafter and known by the name of the Township of 
"Yarmouth." This fact is interesting, as it affords, from 
the circumstance that about one hundred out of the one 
hundred and thirtj^-three grantees of 1759 were inhabitants 
of New England, a presumption that the name was sug- 
gested by those who were already acquainted or identified 
with the Township and Town of Yarmouth, in INTassachu- 
setts. We know that numerous families who settled early 
in this Township came from that neighbourhood. On the 
other hand, the opinion has been expressed by those en- 
titled to respect, that the Township derived its name from 
a nobleman in the ministry of the day ; a fashion of which 
we have numerous proofs in the Province, 



CHAPTER ?. 

\riiE FIRST ARRIVALS. THEIR LOCATIONS, CONBlTlOJf 
AND FIRST EXPERIENCES. 

I'NDER what distinct instrument or agreement, if any, 
the pioneers reached these shores, we cannot deter- 
mine. We have reason, I think, to conclude that there was 

NO FORMAL GRANT MADE TO THOSE WHO ACTUALLY CAME, 

as there had heen to those who did not come; and, that for 
several years, no partition was made. On Tuesday the 9th 
day of June 1761, the first vessel arrived having on board 
three families, who all came from Sandwich, Cape Cod. 
Those three were Sealed Landers, Ehene^er Ellis, and Moses 
Perry. On the following Thursday, Jonathan Crosby and 
Joshua Burgess arrived with their dependents. They came 
from Connecticut. During the summer, Elishama El- 
dridge and seven other families arrived. But whatever was 
the cause, two of those seven returned to New England the 
same fall ; and the remaining five, the next spring. The 
three first named landed on the spot afterwards known as 
Crawley's Island in Chebogue harbour. There Perry re* 
mained ; Ellis moved further down the river, near to the 
point ; but Landers, settled at the head of the tide, now 
Milton, on the west side of the stream. During the first 
summer and winter, Landers at the head of the Yarmouth 
harbour, and Elishama Eldridge on the Fish Point, were 
the sole inhabitants of Cape Forchue. The other families 



History of Yarmouth. ■ 33 

m 

as they arrived during tlie summer settled at the mouth of 
Perry's Creek : extending their temporary habitations along 
" the lull '•' as it was called, from Crocker's point to the east 
end of Wyman's road. 

For the bulk of the Settlers, their place of disembarking 
was all that they, as men chiefly engaged in fishing, could 
desire. They had nothing to gain by removing ; and they 
were on, or near to, the cleared lands left by the Acadians. 
It was otherwise with Landers, who was a miller. He 
wanted water power. He and his son, soon after their 
arrival, followed up the Chebogue river to the spot where 
the bridge now is, at Arcadia. Here they, at first, almost 
decided that they would build ; but not being satisfied with 
the prospect, they returned to their landing place, followed 
down the Chebogue point and up the Cape Forchue harbour 
until they came to the Milton narrows. This place satisfied 
them, especially after they had seen and examined the first 
and second ponds ; and here they brought the frame and 
milling apparatus which had been discharged on Crawley's 
Island. Upon the spot then, where the mill now stands. 
Sealed Landers the miller, built the first mill in the County 
of Yarmouth : and, in the garden belonging to Mr. Chas E. 
Brown, between his house and his store, Landers built the 
first framed house on the Yarmouth harbour. The spot is 
still observable, for it is hard to remove traces of an old cel- 
lar. But neither the mill nor the house were built during 
ih.e first year ; and we must return to the first season's expe-- 
rience. It appears that besides the provisions which they 
brought with them, the families before named had made 
arrangements for further supplies to be brought during the 

D 



34 History of Yarmouth. 

season, before tke winter closed in upon them. But, by 
some accident which befel the vessel, those supplies were 
entirely cut off, and the infant Colony was reduced ere the 
season opened to the most dire distress. They had brought 
oxen, cows, calves, hogs and horses with them ; but under 
the circumstances, these only added to their distress. The 
season was exceptionally severe ; the ground remaining 
covered with a fall of snow four feet deep for some months. 
Before succour arrived, many had suffered beyond descrip- 
tion from the extreme rigour of the season and the 
scarcity of provisions. Twenty-seven of the horned cattle 
died of hunger and cold. The others were killed for food, 
A curious confirmation of this tradition is found in an old 
ledger. In the spring of the next year, one person sent 
over eleven hides to the Boston market. Apart from other 
hides, of which there may be no record, there could have 
been no necessity for killing a dozen cattle for thirteen 
families. The following extract from "The Book of 
Records for the Town of Yarmouth," is also very much to 
the point, although entered years afterwards : — 

Yarmouth, September 9, 1762. 
" We, William Pring, Ebenezer Moulton, John Crawley, Esquires, being 
" appointed by Government of Nova Scotia in Halifax as Committeemen 
" for settlement of Township of Yarmouth in said County called Queens 
" County, provide * * * * -k- * * * * 
" Seventh, Pring's island to be given for service done to families in the 
" Township in time of distress for their relief, to be William Pring's, Esq., 
" and John Crawley's jointly. ******* 

William Pring, "l Committee 
Ebenezer Moulton, I appointed by 
John Crawley, J Authority." 

All were not alike. Some had been more provident than 
others, or more fortunate ; but all suffered enough. In the 
«arly spring, before succour arrived, some were reduced to 



jffistory of Yarmouth. 35 

the necessity of trying to obtain sustenance from the hides 
of the animals they had killed and eaten. So extreme were 
their sufferings that one or two died of want. One of the 
party confessed in after years to a friend whose testimony 
is trustworthy, that the sweetest meal she ever ate was 
made from the tail of a hide, which she cut off and cooked. 
There has always been a traditional belief that the Govei-n- 
ment had promised provisions and other assistance, which 
never came to hand ; and, in consequence of this belief, 
there has always been more or less of hardness of feeling 
upon the part of those who either in themselves, or in their 
friends, thought they were injured. As a corrective of this 
feeling, I think the plain declaration of Governor Lawrence 
to the effect that he had no authority to promise provisions, 
will do good service. The truth is, there is ground for 
fearing that some of those who suffered most, were also 
those who had done least for themselves. But even if it 
were the operation of an inexoraible law of nature, that 
effect follows cause, we feel a sense of deep sympathy with 
those who suffered so much then, but who can suffer no 
more in this world. 

After a long dreary winter, the Spring came ; and with 
it, a vessel bearing supplies to the well-nigh famished 
Colony. We cannot record their expressions of thankful 
joy; but we can imagine their jubilant feelings. Men, 
women and children saw, for a time, the end of their suffer- 
ings. It is an uniform tradition that one of the men, half 
starved and reckless of the result, ate so freely of biscuit, 
that he only just lived, even after laborious rubbing and 
oiling. But even then, the prospect was one inviting only 



86 History of Yarmouth, 

to the strong-hearted, the self-reKant and the industrionSy 
There was a possibihty of guarding against similar extremi- 
ties during the next season. The immediate result of the 
lately endured privations was that five families returned to 
New England. The names of those five, together with 
those two who returned in the fall of the previous year, 
are — Basset, Pease, Abbey, Crosby, Hall, Howard and 
Carpenter. This early exodus was by no means reassuring 
to those who remained. Seventeen families comprising 
fourteen adult males, twelve adult females, forty male chil- 
dren, and fourteen female children, in all eighty souls, had 
spent the first winter in their new home. But the opening 
of the next season, that of 1762, saw the number reduced 
to six families, comprising in all thirty-eight souls. 

There is a first to everything, and we believe that the 
year 1762 saw the first birth, the first death, and the first 
marriage. The first English child that was born in this 
County was Anna, the daughter of Moses Perry. She was 
born in September of that year. The house, if it can be 
so designated, in which this pioneer stranger first saw the 
light, was an amusing instance of ingenuity; her father 
having settled on what had been a French Acadian orchard, 
utilized one of the apple trees as a centre support, and dis- 
posed his tenting materials all around it. In the spring of 

the same year, Lucy, daughter of Crosby, died ; and, 

I think, that the circumstances already detailed supply the 
probable cause. The month of December of this same 
year saw the first marriage, which was that of Jonathan 
Crosby, Junr., and Patty Howard, who had evidently found 
more inducement to stay than the other members of her 



History of Yarmouth. 37 

family.* Whilst mentioning tliese first domestic details, 
I may here add that the first male child horn was William, 
son of Samuel Harris. His father settled on the western 
side of the harbour, opposite Killam's shipyard.. Whether 
William was born in the year 1762, or in the year follow- 
ing, is uncertain ; but he was at all events the first English 
male child born in the County. 

The seven families who returned could not have given ^ 
very cheering account of the land. Still, others came in 
their place. Experience, the best of teachers, had taught 
all to be ready for the winter, and being better provided 
they spent a less dreary season. Still, we are assured on 
good testimony, that for years want was not unknown. 

" Many a time -when the men liad gone out to the banks fishing, ■women 
" and childi'en were obliged to wait without a morsel of food within their 
"reach, until the receding of the tide enabled them to wade out on the 
" flats and collect a meal of the elams with which the harbours aboimded, 
■" and which were cooked and eaten on the beach ; while at other times the 
*' himgry children have been indebted for a feast on their moose and eels to 
" the benevolence of the inhabitantfl of the neighbouring wigwams, A 
*' respectable ship master and owner told me that when a boy, he had often 
" fished in his father's boat, day after day, with no food but, to use his own 
" plain but expressive words, ' dried halibut and hounaigh clabbatcgh,'f ex- 
" cept when they landed to cook a mess of the fish they had been catching. 
" These narratives may appear scarcely credible, but truth is sometimes 
" stranger than fiction, — and as I had them from the lips of the actors 
" themselves, I have no doubt of their entire accuracy."| 

In the face of such testimony, it must require no small 
scepticism to reject, and no ordinary hardness of heart, to 
be unmoved by the recital of such details. 

During the available season of 1762, we are certain of 

* This little romance in real life, which was incidentally mentioned by 
me in a Lecture, gave rise to quite a lengthy Poem on the subject, from 
.the pen of Mr. Richard Huntington, with a perusal of which I have been, 
favoured ; but with which, as yet, he has not favoured the public, in the 
columns of the Tribune. 

t In Webster, Bonny Clabber, | Dr. H. G-. Farish. Early recollections. 



38 History of Yarmouth. 

the arrival of several men, "whether their families accompa- 
nied them at first or not, whose names are now as house- 
hold words : and one or two of them may have been in 
Yarmouth during the previous season. Those of them, of 
whose coming, from a variety of considerations, drawn from 
different sources, there is no doubt, are John Crawle}^, 
long after known as Squire Crawley, Captain Ephraim 
Cook, Josiah Beal, Seth Barnes, Edward Tinkham, Ben- 
jamin Darling, Patrick Gowen, Samuel Harris, Phineas 
Durkee, Hezekiah Bunker, Eichard Eose, Ebenezer Corning, 
Samuel Wood, and Ebenezer Moulton. And to those may 
be added the name of Samuel Oats, who, although unknown 
in after history, was placed by the Council in Halifax on a 
Committee for laying out lots to individual settlers. A 
glance at names mentioned shows, at once, to any one 
acquainted with the Township, how the little one has become 
a thousand. There were several other arrivals not enumer- 
ated here ; but not very many. No lists or reliable data 
have been available ; but if a person's name is mentioned 
in some record as having had a lot of land laid out to him, 
or as serving on a Committee ; ^or is named as the holder 
of a piece of land adjoining that which was being laid out, 
we may safely conclude his presence. 

Phineas Durkee, whose name is mentioned above, was a 
tanner by trade ; a business which he carried on in Yar- 
mouth, quite extensively. He came from Brinfield, Mass., 
in 1763. He was the first Town Clerk, prominent in all 
public business, and influential as a Magistrate, — an office 
which he and Mr. John Crawley were the first to fill. He 
was the ancestor of all who, in this County, bear his name. 
He died in the year 1800» 



CHAPTEE VI. 

PROGRESS OE THE WORK OF SETTLEMENT. COMMITTEE 
APPOINTED BY COUNCIL. RULES FOR THEIR GUIDANCE. 

fHE formal Township grants of 1759 and 1760 having 
fallen through, it would appear that the Council 
refused to receive any further applications for grants of the 
ivhole ; hut that, instead, they appointed a committee 
under special regulations, to provide for settlers as they 
arrived; a principle that was acted upon until the year 
1767 ; when, there being a sufficient number of interested 
parties on the spot, a formal grant was once more made, 
which is the one under which the Township is now held. 
After eighteen months had elapsed, and nothing had been 
done, on the 25th September, 1761, 

THE COUNCIL APPOINTED A COMMITTEE 

" for dividing the forfeited lands in the Township of Yar- 
" mouth, and for admitting settlers into the said Township 
" under the regulations established in Council on the 
" fifteenth day of August last."* The committee named 
were John Crawley, William Pring, Richard Lodge, 
Ebenezer Moulton, Joseph Rundel, James Fillis and 
Stephen Moulton. There is some reason to think that 
those men were in Halifax at the time ; probably arranging 
for settlement. Be that as it may, several are the names 
of men who never saw Yarmouth. Some of them may 

^Council Minutes of date. 



40 History of Yarmouth. 

have known that they would not be here ; for in less than 
a month the Council advised that Mr. Josiah Beal, Mr. 
Ephraim Cook, and Mr. Samuel Oats, should be added to 
the Committee : and, as a matter of fact, the last three 
named, together with Mr. Crawley, were the only men who 
ever served on the committee. The 

EEGULATIONS FOR ADMITTING SETTLERS 

referred to in the minute appointing the committee were 
these : — 

" Farmers having families consisting of more than seven persons in a 
" family, stock, and ability suiBcient, to have one share and a half.* 

" Farmers having families of sis and under, and stock, to have one share. 

" Farmers single, above twenty-one years of age, to have half a share, 

" A return to be made to the Commander-in-Chief, of persons so admit- 
" ted, with their age, number in family, stock and ability, by the first 
" opportunity after each admission. 

" And all other persons are to be admitted by the said Committee, upon 
" receiving orders from the Commander-in-Chief or others authorized by 
" him, giving directions therefor. 

" No minors to be admitted but by express directions from the Com- 
mander-in-Chief. 

" That Fishermen, Ship Carpenters and other professions belonging to 
" the sea, be admitted as well as farmers." 

The Committee did nothing in 1761, beyond arranging 
the details of their work. In doing so they were evidently 
of opinion that the future Town should be on what has 
always since been known as Bunker's Island ; and, as far as 
they could, they provided that it should be so, by restricting 
the size of each lot to one acre. 

They held their first meeting on June the 15th, 1763, 
on which occasion they published their plan of proceeding. 
They invited all persons already " jiitched and settled,'' as 
well as " all others intending to settle," to make application 

* A share consisted of 666 acres ; and, whenever we use the word,' it is 
in that sense. 



History of Yarmouth. 



41 



to them for land. This shows that up till this point, each 
of the settlers was but a Squatter,— a fact which afterwards 
gave rise to very unpleasant difficulties, — and that he 
needed to have the land upon which he had settled to be 
confirmed by this Committee, and laid out by their sur- 
veyor. Their attention was evidently chiefly directed to a 
judicious arrangement of the water lots, not only because 
thay were those already occupied, but also as being the 
most valuable, and requiring the greatest care. They 
reserved all the Islands in the rivers for the use of the 
Fishermen ; and discretion for themselves to modify their 
general plan. I have here inserted as being at once the 
oldest public Township record, and a kind of literary 
curiosity, an exact copy first, of the first meeting of the 
Committee; and secondly, a copy of the first certificate of 
proprietorship granted by the Committee. All that follow 
are substantially the same. 

Persuant to the orders and Directions Given to us from 
the Groverment as a Commitey to Regelate The Setle- 
ment of this town of Yearmouth at Councel holden at 
Halifax on monday the 18 of October 1762 And in obe- 
diance to the truste Reposed in us as a Commitey Hav- 
ing heard the ReQustes mad by Divers persons AUredey 
pitched and setled as well as many others Hoc have mad 
there applicaton to us for Rights of Land haveing Duly 
considered the mater we Have thought fit for the Good 
and well being of the town that the Land be devided in 



The 

furst 

meeting 

of the 

Commetee 

Rec'd 



Recorded 
June 
the 15th 
1763 



the fast Devishens as foUoweth fustly That Each Lot of 
Land ajoyneing the harbour or River called teboge shall 
frunt Eightey Rods and Run so far Back as to containe 
one hundred acors and all so the Lands at Capersu har- 
bour in the same manner if found conveanent by Com- 
mety when Laid out (excepting the Land Lyeing on 
Capersu harbour above the Iseland or Penensula that 
is now setled on which is to be laid in Acor Lots) & 
beginning at the lot on which Phenias Durgey is setled 
on the fust Lot ajoyning said Durgey Ranging northerly 



The furst 
meeting 
of the 
Committee 
Rec'd and 
Recorded 
June the 15 
17C3 at 
Nine of 
the Clocli 
in the 
four Noon 
and on 
Page 13 



42 



History of Yarmouth. 



In the 

furst 

Book 

of the 

Records 

at year 

mouth 

Page 

Thurteen 

Ephralm 

Cooke 

Register 



The iurst 
Return re'd 
August the 
12 at 9 
of the Clok 
in the four 
Noon year 
1763 & 
Recorded in 
In page 14 



along the harbors head to the fresh Eever to Seled Lan- 
ders is lot the fust Lot a joining To Phineus Durgey to 
frunt fortey Rods and all the Rest from there Round to 
the had of Land Leying on the south side of the falls 
called by the name of the salt pond fall to frunt 
sixty Rods Excepting said Landers Lot & the Land 
Granted to John Charles for a mill Lot the Lots that 
frunt sixty Rods are to Run back so far as to contain 
sixty accors if thay can convenantly or otherwise as shall 
Be found convenent by that commetey as shall Lay them 
out & the poynt on the north side of Capersu harbour to 
Ee Laid in acor Lots & a small peneula next a joining on 
the a four said pensular now setled on at said Capersu 
Lying southeast on said harbour to be Laid out in acors' 
And the neck of Land at tebogue harbour on which 
Bin j man Darling now Lives on to be laid out in Acer 
Lots & a hundred acers of Land to be Laid out in acer 
Lots that Layes in a neck a joining teboge Rever Between 
the two Lots now posessed ' by Samuel adinton & 
Samuel wood and the Cape of Land caled and known By 
the name of Capersu had or neck on the north side of 
the harbour to where it is cut of by the water through 
The beach to be Reserved for a Comon to Convean said 
Harbour and the marsh Lands on the south of the Efour 
said harbour a joining to the Efour said pensulas to Be 
Reserved for a Comon as shall be found Conveant by 
The Commitey that Layes out the same in Confirmmation 
Here of we have here-unto set our hands this ninth Day 
of June & in the year of our Lord 1763 
John Crawley "| 

Ephraim Cooke ^ , , 

r, r\ f Commettee 

Samuel Oats 

Josiah Bbal J 

Capersue in year mouth July the 2 1763 

Then Laid out unto andrew Durkey one hundred acers 

of Land Lying on the North westerly side of the Salt 

pond Beginning at a spruch tree marked A D Running 

south fifteen Degres weste Eighty Rods then North 

seventy Degres west two hundred and two Rods then 

North fifteen Degres Easte Eightey Rods then South 

Seventy Degrees Easte two hundred and two Rods to the 

furst mentioned bound Excluding neeery Roads — Run 

out by Patrick Gowen Survar by order of the Commettee 

JoBN Crawley 'j 

Josiaii Beal ^ ,,„„ 

-n, n Y Commettee 

Epuraim Cooke 

Samuel Oats J 



History of Yarmouth. 



43 



The person named William Pring, may have been in 
Yarmouth in 1762 ; but, if so, lie was here only a yery 
short time. He left Nova Scotia for Great Britain in the 
Spring of 1763 ; his property, part of which was a share of 
the Island known as Crawley's, was made over by consent 
of Council to a Mr. Lorrey.* With regard to Mr. Richard 
Lodge, nothing more is knovrn than the interesting fact 
that on the recommendation of Messrs. Rundel, Crawlej", 
and Young, on the 29th of June, 1761, twenty days after 
the first arrival, he was made a Justice of the Peace. He 
was therefore the first in the Yarmouth Commission ;. an 
office the duties of which he never discharged. 

It was doubtless necessary to have some Justices in the 
Township. Accordingly, on September the 25th of 1761 
•the Council " advised that Mr. John Crawley, Mr. William 
"Pring, and Mr. Stephen Moulton be appointed Justices; 

''' and that Mr. Waters and Mr. William Young be 

"appointed Deputy Surveyors;" Patrick Gowen, before 
named, being the first incumbent of the office of Surveyor. 

Ephraim Cooke, one of the Committee and the first 
Registrar of Deeds, is entitled to some notice. He was a 
seafaring man who had lost one of his legs ; and a few still 
living can recall the days when their childish fancy identi- 
fied him with the Captain Cook who sailed round the 
world. He was not one of the first thirteen of 1761 ; but 
he was here before any of them ; and, as far as we know, 
he was the first Englishman who set foot on this County. 
He was the pioneer of the Yarmouth fishing trade, and he 
knew these shores for seasons before the year of settle- 

* Council Minutes, April 30, 1763. 



^i History of Yarmouth. 

ment, having been one of those who came to fish and then 
return to then- New England homes at the end of the sea- 
son. As the youngest of three sons, he was kept at home 
(Kingston, Mass.), to work on the farm. In 1755 he 
accompanied his father, who was a Captain of MiHtia, and, 
while building a fort, a log fell and broke his leg, necessi- 
tating amputation beloAV the knee. He could farm no 
longer, and afterwards he became a Surveyor. But he 
preferred the sea ; and it is as shoresman and storekeeper 
in his future father-in-law's fishing vessel- that we first 
meet with him in the spring of 1761, befor^e the arrival of 
any intending settlers. He first camped on Tinkham's 
Island; then at Cook's harbour, where he had a better 
beach to cure the fish. He busied hiaiself at homo in 
Kingston during the winter of 1761 in getting out the 
frame of a house, which was of oak, part of which can yet 
be identified. Being lame, he required a horse for draw- 
ing the fish to and from the flakes ; and as water was dis- 
tant from his camping place, he procured a stout canoe, in 
which he fixed a barrel ; and by these expedients he sup- 
plemented the loss of his limb. He gradually became a 
man of considerable influence in the Township. He had 
a vessel of about 35 or 40 tons, all of oak, in the fishing 
trade, of which we may describe him as the founder. In 
her he employed seven or eight men, who, on the well 
now obsolete mode of payment, were " supplied" from his 
store. We have already noted that he was the first Begis- 
trar; afterwards, he was appointed the first Captain of 
Militia for both sides of the Chebogue Eiver ; in addition 
to which he held a commission as Justice of the Peace. 
He died in the year 1821, leaving behind him a good 
substance, a large family, and a fair fame. 



CHAPTER VII. 

CONTINUED INFLUX TILL 1764. FIRST NOTICE OF ARGYLE AND 
PUBNICO. MR. CRAWLEY'S RETURN. PERSONAL REFERENCES. 

tILL 1767, after whicli land liad to be bought, intend- 
ing settlers continued to arrive in no inconsiderable 
numbers. Nothing is plainer than that for the more 
part, they were poor men ; and such a misfortune as 
the memorable winter of 1761, which found them in the 
spring without food and without seed, the suppliants of a 
GoYernment who declared that "by reason of the great 
''load of debt due by the public, it was unable to assist 
*' them," their prospect was one of hard toil. To this 
however, results have shown they were equal. 

In the season of 1763, the settlement was increased by 
the arrival of several families. Prominent among those, in 
respect of their numerous descendants, were Cornelius 
Piogers, Peleg Holmes, Jonathan TJtley, Eleazer Hibbard,. 
Eleazer Butler, William and Eobert Haskell, Benjamin 
Bobbins, Benj. Crosby, Lemuel Churchill, Levi Horton^ 
and David Hersey. A glance at the Christian names 
jjhows us the former home and extraction of all of them • 
whilst a moment's reflection on the Surnames most widely 
scattered over the County, will satisfy us of the after 
importance of this season's immigration. 

The Committee for laying out lands were kept busily 
employed in providing for the present, and looking out for 



46 History of Yarmouth. 

the future. One of the schemes they had was a Town of 
lesser importance on the Forchue Harbour, than that which 
was projected on the Chebogue harbour, a scheme to which 
we have already referred. They intended to locate the 
principal Town on the projecting land, east of the burying 
ground on the Chebogue harbour ; and the spot is still 
known by the name of the Town point. Here they had 
settled the site of the Town. The proceeding was reason- 
able; for at this time, and for many years afterwards, 
Chebogue was the centre of population and influence. 

Simultaneously with the arrival of English inhabitants 
in Yarmouth, some foAV persons had arrived in the future 
districts of 

ARGYLE AND PUBNICO. 

There was no difficulty in this part of the County about 
grants; no grant of the whole of what is known as the 
Township of Argyle having ever been made. The earliest 
record we have of any settlers is, "An application from 
"William Ingols on behalf of several persons who are 
" arrived at Piignico (Pubnico), and requesting that a small 
" quantity of land may be allotted to them, as the Town 
" lots are not yet laid out. The Committee did advise 
" that ten acres of land be laid out to each family now on 
" the spot as well as to those families which shall hereafter 
" arrive there."* There are no means of ascertaining ex- 
actly who those several persons were, no list or record of 
any kind having been preserved. Whether Mr. Ingols had 
taken more than belonged to him, when he spoke for him- 
self and the " several others," it is impossible to say; but, 

* Council Minutes, May Ist, 1762. 



History of Yarmouth. 4T 

a few montlis later, the Council " ordered Francis Salter be 
" accommodated with a first lot at Pugnico, which is to be 
" laid out to him, of the cleared lands enclosed there by 
" Mr. Ingols ; and also that ten acres of land be laid out 
" to the said Francis Salter at Pugnico, agreeable to the 
" order of Council of the first day of May last, the said ten 
" acres to be laid out to him, wherever he chooses, so as 
" the same does not interfere with the persons already set- 
" tied there."* 
By the year 1763, 

" John Frt)st and fifteen others settled on Abuptick Eirei' 

" They have about sixty-four in family, sixty-five cattle, thirty sheep, 
" twenty hogs, one schooner, twenty-five acres of cleared land, two hundred 
"and five acres of land cleared from the woods by the inhabitants, and 
" most of it planted with potatoes and planted with grain."t 

Such is the detailed history. of what was shortly after- 
wards called Aegyle. That name, by which eventually 
the whole Township or district became known, was given 
by Captain Ranald McKinnon, a native of the Western 
Highlands of Scotland, who had served in the regular army 
with distinction, and afterwards in this Province, with 
energy, in completing the expulsion of the French. | In 
consideration of his services, on the first of April, 1766, 
he had two thousand acres granted to him, comprising " a 

tract of land where he now lives, being a point of land 
" between the Island Nonparison and Eel Bay and the 
'* river Abuptic, containing five hundred acres. Also, the 
" Island or Islands called La Tour, lying between the 

* Minutes August 16, 1762. 

t Crawley's Eeturn of 1764. 

J In 1812, his widow set forth as grounds for a renewal of certain deeds 
which had been destroyed, the fact that her husband had served in the 
wars, and had been wounded. 



48 History of Yarmouth. 

" Island called Nonparison, granted to Messrs. Crawley and 
*' Morris, and the Island called Long Island granted to H. 
" E, tlie Governor, containing one thousand acres." 

Captain McKinnon had a large family of sons and 
daughters, though few, if any, of their descendants hearing 
the name are now in the county. One of his sons. Major 
John McKinnon, was memher for the County of Shelburne 
in 1823. And one of his daughters, afterwards the wife of 
Dr. Fletcher, an army physician, was well known in her 
day for her literary ability. On his arrival about 1762, he 
first settled on Amirault's Hill, between two and three 
miles below Tusket village. But there were neither French 
nor English neighbours there at that time, and in a j^ear- 
or two he removed to the charming spot known as Oak 
Grove. In both cases, he proved himself a true high- 
lander, for he chose the most elevated sites in the neigh- 
bourhood. 

The scenery in this locality is marked by uncommon and 
varied beauty, which opens to the traveller as he winds 
round the road and is about to cross the Argyle bridge, 
looking westward. In the foreground are the bridge over 
the quietly flowing and winding river, with one or two cot- 
tages half hidden by the foliage ; and in the background 
the hills successive rise till their summits are crowned 
with lofty trees ; through the opening branches of which, 
near the close of an autumn day, the western sun's rays are 
poured, filling the scene with lights and shadows of ever- 
varying depth. A climb among the still standing oaks to 
the top of the hill on which once stood the old McKinnon 
homestead, will well repay the labour. There is little now 



History of Yar'mouth. 



49 



to tell the tale of bygone days, save the debris of the old 
cellar wall, in the vicinity of which a lilac or two, an old 
thorn, and a few willows, still stand. All that is merely 
human ife gone ; the view as of yore remains ; and like him 
who made it, it is very good. Around you are the neigh- 
bouring hills, but you are on the highest ; and at the base 
of the hill, looking southward, is the main river, studded 
with numerous islands, breaking up its course. On all 
sides, the view is made delightful by a most pleasant 
diversity of wood and water, hill and dale. 

It will have been borne in mind that one of the Regula- 
tions of Council of 1761, required the Committee laying out 
lands, to make a return of all the settlers at an early day. 
Accordingly, in the month of June, 1764, just three years 
after the first lauding, a return was made to Halifax, by 
John Crawley. It is much too interesting a paper to pass 
over. It is 

THE FIRST PUBLIC EETURX ; 

and is here inserted whole : — 



RETURN OF SETTLERS, WITE FAMILIES AND STOCK, IN THE 
TOWNSHrP OF YARMOUTH, IN 1763-4. 



NAMES. 







CO 


60 




1 

a 

• 
?> 

■3 ^ 

CO 


"■ 'i 


John Crawley, 


4 
3 

8 
4 
9 
4 
5 
9 
3 
4 
9 
10 
8 
1 
5 
6 
5 
9 


14 
11 

12 

■■3 

5 
2 
7 
2 
4 

■9 

7 

"2 
4 
15 
13 


7 
27 

"7 

■7 

13 
... 

"9 

8 


3 

"2 
3 
1 
3 
1 
3 
2 
2 
9 
6 
8 

"2 

7 

"(5 




6 


Ephraim Cook 


"] 




11 


George Ring 


4 


BenJHinin Darling, , 


3 


Ebenczer Haley 


3 


John McKinnon, 


4 


Consider Fuller, 


p 


Roger Merithew, 


1- 


Tim'y Robertson 


2 


Wells Moreton, 


2 


Samuel Wood, 


2 


Moses Perry 


2 


Joshua Burgess, Senr 


t> 


Joshua Burgess, Jun 


1 


Jonathan tlrosby 


g 




10- 


Seth Barnes 




Peleg Holmes 


i 




E 





50 



History of Yarmouth. 



RETURN OF SETTLERS, WITH FAMILIES AND STOCK, IN THE 
TOWNSHIP OF YARMOUTH, IN nC~S,A-Contmued. 



NAMKS. 




to 




(0 





u 


^^ a 


Samuel Godfrey, 


3 
1 
5 
5 
6 
4 
2 
4 
1 
5 
3 
8, 
3 
1 
1 
1 
156 

10 
8 
6 
5 
6 
7 
7 
5 
7 
4 
2 
4 
1 
7 
4 
4 
1 
1 
1 

90 


6 

io 

4 
14 

11 

7 
7 

"3 

(5 

21 
1 

"i 

6 

^07 

3 

"8 

"5 

16 
5 
4 

"i 

2 

"3 

7 

6 
60 


12 

"9 

18 

"4 
6 

22 

149 
"2 

io 

12 


2 

■3 
1 
1 
1 

■ 1 
1 

"5 
1 

*•• 

67 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
8 
3 
1 
5 
2 

"2 
1 

28 


"2 

"i 
"i 





Prince Godfrey 


1 


Ebenezer Ellis 


3 


William Curtis, 


1 


Edward Tinkham, 


1 


Benjamin Robbing, 


6 


Cornelius Rogers, 


2 


Moses Scott, 


5 


Samuel Aderton 


1 


Nathan Nickerson 


3 


Patrick Gowen, 


4 


James Robbins 


5 


David Hers ey 




Moses Gowen, 


1 


David Hersey, Jr 




Lemuel Churchill 


2 


Total at Tebogue 


117 


Samuel Harris 


2 


Joseph Sanders, 

Seled Landers, 


2 
2 


Joseph Pitman 


2 


Eleazer Butler 


2 


Pheneas Durkee, 


10 


Samuel Oats, 


1 


Jonathan Woodberry, 


1 


James Philpot 




William Haskell 


2 


Eben. Moulton 


2 


Joseph Stewart, 


1 


Jonathan Baker 


5 


Elishama Eldridge, 


4 




3 




1 


John Perry '. 


•> 




1 


Robert Durkee, 


2 




45 






Total in Township, 


246 


267 


161 


95 


3 


162 



This return is accompanied by tlie rough calculation 
before given of the probable number of persons in Argyle ; 
Mr. Crawley saying that " the distance prevented a particu- 
lar return in time." 

It is a very curious circumstance, that this return omits 
the names of several persons of whom we have proof that 
they were here at the time the return was made. John 
Richardson, Andrew Durkee, Levi Horton, Eleazer Hibbard 
•are all omitted. By some curious accident, even the name 



Sistory of Yarmouth. 51 

<<of Josiah Beal, with whom Mr. Crawley must have had, as 
an active member of Committee, continued intercourse, 
is left out. It will be seen by this return that Tehogue, as 
it is called, was a place of twice greater importance than 
Cape Forchue. The names of several persons here men- 
tioned suggest this as the most fitting place for 

A FEW BRIEF PERSONAL DETAILS. 

It will be seen, on glancing at Mr. Crawley's list, that 
several were young men, little more than minors ; and that 
others had considerable establishments. Thus, George 
Eing had a family of eight ; and as we have already seen 
that he owned a fishing vessel and employed men, this may 
account for it* 

John McKinnon settled at Chebogue Point. He was a 
brother of Captain Eanald at Argyle ; having served the 
Government, he was rewarded with large grants of land in 
the Township. Altogether he had 2664 acres. He and 
his wife were drowned in the Grand Tusket sluice while on 
their way to visit his brother at Argyle. His descendants 
are scattered throughout the County. 

Cornelius Eogers, whose descendants are also numerous, 
was in all probability a direct descendant of John Eogers 
who suffered at Smithfield. The connexion is traceable 
between Cornelius and his ancestors, who came over in the 
" Mayflower." 

William Curtis, who came from Marblehead, built his 
house near the site of the new poor-house. He was an 
original grantee; and, as if "coming events cast their 
shadows before," having been robbed of his property by a 
lawyer named Prout who lived at Murphy's Bridge, he be- 



52 History of Yarmouth. 

came for many years a charge upon the Town. Prout was? 
handled in the way, as the story has it, that they do sailors 
who for the first time cross the line. 

Moses Scott was a brother of the Kev. Jonathan Scott^ 
for many years the Congregational minister in Chebogue. 
His- descendants are as numerous as for the more part they 
are prosperous. 

David Hersey, or as it afterwards became corrupted, Has- 
sey, lived near to Ephraim Cook, who built a saw and a 
grist mill, the former of which was managed by Hassey ; 
and was long afterwards known as " Hassey's mill." 

James Brown's descendants are quite numerous, although 
ih-Q family name is extinct. He came from Ipswich, Mass./ 
in the year 1767. 

With regard to John Crawley, who made the return, lit- 
tle of his antecedents is known before he came to Yarmouth 
in the spring of 1762. He had a brother and nephew who 
were both grantees, who came here after him, but who did 
not remain long. Whether Edmund and Joseph Crawley, 
who obtained grants on Nonparison in 1763, were relatives, 
near or distant, has not been satisfactorily established. 
Mr. Crawley was the first acting Justice, and the first Cus- 
tos in this Township. He was a man superior to the 
general run of the settlers in business ability. He was 
appointed by the Council one of the Committee for settling 
the Township, and he was constantly engaged, one way or 
another, in public affairs. He frequently served on Com- 
mittees for examining Town matters, and generally presid- 
ed at public meetings. He also acted as Judge of Common 
Pleas until Ms death in 1807. He was twice married. By 



History of Yarmouth. 53 

the latter marriage, which was very late in life, he had two 
sons, one of whom is our respected townsman of the same 
name, who is also, I believe, the only living male repre- 
sentative of the second generation in the Township of 
Yarmouth- 



CHAPTEE Vni. 

INCREASE BETWEEN 1764-7. THE TOWNSHIP GRANT. MARKS OF 
PROGRESS. GRIST AND SAW MILLS. 

fraETWEEN the time of Mr. Crawley's return and the 
^^ draughting of the Township grant, dated April the 
7th, 1767, a space less than three years, there must have 
been over seventy arrivals ; even if we make an allowance 
of thirty absentees, who, nevertheless, were grantees. In 
the return before referred to it is said that 

"John Walker, Corney, Eeding, Nathan Brown, James 

"Matters, Jonathan Corney, Sewell, John Bailey, — family and 

" stock are coming down this summer from New England." 

The Corneys were plainly the families of Corning ; Keding 
was Benjamin Eedding; and James Matters, James 
Mattenly. 

But besides those, who were all Mr. Crawley could speak 
of with certainty, there were Andrew Lovitt, whose nume- 
rous and well-to-do representatives are around us ; Hezekiah 
Bunker, after whom the island so called, was named ; and 
others less known. During the season of 1765, Richard, 
the ancestor of the Rose family, arrived ; Nathaniel Elwell,* 

* An "elderly Lady," still living, speaking of this singular old settler, says 
that " Nathaniel Elwell passed away from this world about sixty years since. 
" I remember him well : a little old man in his queer old-fashioned dress, 
" broad-skirted coat, short breeches, grey stockings, and shoes with buckles, 
" He was a professed unbeliever in Christianity, and remained so as long as 
"he lived. His favorite book was^ne of Paine's works, which he always 



History of Yarmouth. ■ 55 

of Almanac celebrity;* and David Pearl, around whose 
famil}^ fortunes fact has thrown an air of romance. To 
these may be added Daniel Crocker, Elias Trask and 
Jonathan Scott, as being noteworthy for the influence 
which they in their lifetime, or their descendants after 
them, have had on the fortunes of this community. 
Although the document is lengthy, I have been unable to 
believe that it could have been omitted with advantage. I 
have therefore inserted the list of grantees, amongst whom, 
in three divisions, the whole Township was divided, .with 
the exception of four shares retained by the Grovernment, 
" to be disposed of as the Governour, Lieut. Governour, or 
" Commander-in-Chief for the said Province, for the time 
•"being, may hereafter direct." I may here remark, as 
being somewhat curious, and inexplicable at this late day, 
that, several persons, who are well known to have been in the 
Township when the grant was made, were excluded. Such 
were Nathan Utley, Levi Horton and Elishama Eldridge. 

" carried about with him, and was anxious to force upon the attention of all 
" whom he coiild prevail upon to read it. His son Hezekiah was quite a 
"different man. He lives in the favourable recollection of many, having 
" departed this life in 1846. Although weak in the head, from an injury 
"received in battle, he was a worthy christian man. Connected with this 
" wound, a curious circumstance occurred. He left home in early life, 
"joined the navy, and served under Admiral Duncan in the battle, of 
" Camperdown, in 1797. He there met with a severe injury, and news 
" came to his friends that he had died from its effects. In consequence of 
"the intelligence, his funeral sermon was preached in the old Eaptist 
" Meeting House, by the late Rev. Harris Harding. I was myself present 
" at the service. He was thus given up for dead ; but the long lost one at 
"length unexpectedly returned, was married, and lived in peace for forty- 
" nine years afterwards, when he at length died at a good old age, and his 
" funeral service was performed by the Rev. Mr. Moody." 

* The most generally received version of the Almanac is, I believe, this : 
—that the first twenty-four hours of the last quarter of the moon, rule that, 
and the nest two quarters. 



56 



History of Yarmouth. 



LIST OF THE GRANTEES OF THE TOWNSHIP OF YARMOUTH, 
GRANT DATED APRIL 7tH, 1767. 



John Mckinnon, 
Benj. EUenwood, 
f amnel Harris, 
Ebenezer Ilealy, 
George Ring, 
James Bobbins, 
David Hersey, 
Edward Tinkham, 
Nathan Weston, 
Nathan Nickerson, 
Joshua Burgess, 
Peleg Holmes, 
Moses Perry, 
Phineas Durkee, 
William Haskill, 
Nathaniel Elwell, 
Seled Landers, 
Joseph Landers, 
Ebenezer Corning, 
Andrew Lovitt, 
John SoUows, 
Joseph Pitman, 
Ebenezer Clark, 
Jeremiah Allen, 
John Crawley, 
Benj. Darling, 
Thomas Mooi'e, 
Jonathan Scott, 
David Pearl, 
Job Pease, 
John Richardson, 
James Brown, 
Nathan Brown, 
Abagail Robbins, 
Roger Merrithew, 
Timothy Robinson, 
Moses Scott, 
Wells Moulton, 
Elisha Eldridge, 
Samuel Godfrey, 
Ephraim Cook, 
Cyrus Symonds, 
Josiah Beal. 



Seth Barnes, 
Daniel Crocker, 
Ebenezer Ellis, 
Elias Trask, 
Lemuel Churchill, 
Patrick Gowen, 
William Curtis, 
Cornelius Rogers, 
George Bridgeo, 
Jonathan Ci'osby, 
Dominicus Sewell, 
Jonathan Woodbury, 
Jonathan Baker, 
Samuel EUenwood, 
Judah Agard, 
John Perry, 
John McKinnon, 
John McKinnon, Jr., 
James McKinnon, 
Norman McKinnon, 
Martin McKinnon, 
Abner Hall, 
James Kelley, 
Eleazer Butler, 
Ebenezer Moulton, 
Eleazer Hibbard, . 
Benjamin Brown, 
Robert Haskill, 
Henry Coggins, 
Joseph Stewart, 
Richard Rose, 
Samuel Dove, 
John Walker, 
Benj. Redding, 
Nathan Porter, 
John Symonds, 
Prince Godfrey, 
Jonathan Corning, 
James Mattenly, 
William Haskill, Sr., 
William Salter, 
Thomas Sullivan, 



Thomas Sinnet, 
John Bounds Moulton, 
James Gilfillan. 
Ebenezer Moulton, Jr., 
Benj. Merrithew, 
William Marshall, 
Thomas Rogers, 
David Harris, 
Stephen GuUison, 
Stilson Hilton, 
SamueLPorter, 
Nehemiah Porter, Jr., 
Edward Crosby, 
James Newry, 
WiUiam Haskill. Jr., 
Moses Haskill, 
John Crawley, Jr., 
James Crawley, 
Nehemiah Porter, 
John Trefry, 
Paul Bunker, 
William Robinson, 
Josiah Godfrey, 
Amos Hilton, 
Benj. Morgan, 
Samuel Allen, 
Adam Brown, 
Alexander Godfrey, 
Hezekiah Bunker, 
John Killam, 
Joshua Trefry, 
Barnabas Eldridge, 
Lydia Somes, 
Thomas Salter, 
William Hammond, 
William Moore, 
John Vergy, 
Moses Hooper, 
Josiah Beal, Jr., 
James Beal, 
Solomon Day, 
Jeremiah Allen, Jr. 



The following, as set fortli in this grant, are 

THE METES AND BOUNDS OF THE TOWNSHIP OF YARMOUTH : 

" Beginning at the Stony Beach at the North side of the harbour of Cape 
' Fourchu, and running Northward, measuring on the sea beach nine 
' hundred and fifty chains, then to run into the Country course North 



History of Yarmouth. 57 

"sixty-nine degrees East, measuring twelve hundred, and thirty chains, 
" thence South twenty-one degrees. East till it meets with the River Tuskett ; 
"and to begin from the first boundary and to run along the sea coast 
" Southerly till it comes to Little River, and to be bounded by said rivgr as 
" far as high water flows, then to run North sixty-six degrees, East till it 
" meets lands laid out unto Eobei-t Wilmot and others, to be bounded by 
" said lands of Robert Wilmot and others till it comes to the River Tuskett, 
"and to be bounded by the siiid River Tuskett till it meets the Northern 
"boundary first described." 

As nearly as we are able to decide from different consid- 
erations, there were probably between twenty and thirty of 
those 132 grantees who were not in the Province at this 
time ; and later on, we shall see that many, from different 
causes, finally lost their lands. 

We have no reason to think that Sealed Landers would 
lose any time in setting up the grist mill. He had every 
inducement to get it into operation as soon as possible. 
His own advantage and the necessities of the people would 
alike urge him to its completion. In the face of this, it 
is a little difficult to see the "meaning of Mr. Crawley's 
remark that there are " a saw mill and a grist mill erecting 
in the said Township." The grist mill was undoubtedly 
Mr. Landers', and the saw mill was probably that erected 
by Ephraim Cook at Little River. John Walker, Landers' 
brother-in-law, was associated with him in the working of 
the mill ; and, ere long, — it being about as necessary to 
have lumber as to have meal, — a saw mill was erected on 
the eastern side of the stream, just opposite the grist mill. 
To some extent the interests of the two sets of millers were 
antagonistic; but an equitable arrangement having been 
made, an instrument was signed by all the parlies concerned. 
As the earliest document of the kind made in the Township, 
it is not unworthy of a place here ; we therefore insert it : 



58 History of Yarmouth. 

"This indenture, . agreement and covenant, made and executed this 
thirteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seyen 
hundred and eighty six, by us — between Seled Landers and John Walker, 
both^of Yarmouth, in Queens County, and Province of Nova Scotia, on 
the one part, and Phineas Durkee, Eleazer Butler, and William Herskell, 
all of Yarmouth aforesaid, on the other part — witnesseth, that whereas 
there is a dam erected and built, now standing on the fresh stream or river 
near the new dwelling house of the said Seled Landers, and the said 
Landers and Walker have built and now improve a grist mill on the 
westerly side of the said stream or river, and the other j)arty have a saw 
mill on the easterly side of said stream or river, and the said dam is for 
the common use and benefit of both said millers, and now the said Landers 
and Walker, on their part, do covenant and agree to maintain and keep in 
good repair the whole of the westerly end of said dam, so far as to middle 
or centre of said dam, to be computed and measured from the said two 
mills, that is, to be divided in the middle half way, between said saw mill 
and grist mill, and to keep and maintain said dam so high as to raise seven 
feet of water at least in the floom of said grist mill, as it is now built, and 
in like manner to keep in repair their half of said dam as long as a grist 
mill shall be there continued ; and the said Phineas Durkee, Eleazer Butler 
and William Herskell, on their part, do covenant and agree to maintain 
and keep in repair the other half of said dam, from the middle, as afore- 
said, to the eastern bank or shore, of the same height as aforesaid, so long as 
the said saw mill shall be there continued, and also not to draw off the 
water at the floom of the said saw mill, at any time when the same is 
wanted for the use of the said grist mill, so low as not to leave four feet 
and a half head of water in the grist mill floom. And for the true and 
faithful performance of all and singular the articles, covenant and agree- 
ment, each party respectively, in manner aforesaid, according to the intent, 
meaning, and most reasonable construction thereof, we, the said parties, do 
bind ourselves, our heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, each party 
to the other party, Brmly by these presents. In witness whereof, we have 
hereunto interchangeably set our hands and seals the day and year first 
above written. Signed, 

Sealed Landers, 
John Walker, 
Phineas Durkee, 
Eleazer Butler, 
WiLLiAji Herskell. 
Signed, sealed and delivered 1 -n, tt 'j ■<. 

° • .1 „ ,1. JiLEAZER HiBBARD. * 

m the presence of J 

* From the original agreement in possession of Samuel Killam, Esqr. 



CHAPTEE IX. 

OPENING UP OF THE COUNTRY BY ROADS. PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
FIRST MINISTERS. CHEBOGUE CHURCH RAISED. 

tHE decision of the question as to who were the pos- 
sessors of the soil, "and where that soil was, the 
raising of mills for different purposes, together with the 
very gradual extension of* the fishing trade', gave an impulse 
to a matter of vital importance, viz : 

THE BUILDING OF ROADS. *■ 

Good roads, as no nation ever Imevi^ better than the ancient 
Komans, are the very marrow of the prosperity and progress 
of a Countryo No doubt but travelling from place to place, 
in the first instance, must have been at once wearisome 
and dangerous ; both of which are illustrated in Sealed 
Landers' long journeys to and from Crocker's Point, by way 
of Chebogue Point, and the absence of any kind of road 
from Chebogue to Argyle, necessitating a journey through 
treacherous waters in an open boat, as when John and Mrs. 
McKinnon lost their lives. 

" Roads there were none. The rugged and rocky beach formed the only 
" path over which the poorer people could carry, on their shoulders, a little 
" modicum of corn, when they could get it, to Landers' grist mill at Milton, 
" which, with a saw mill erected over the same dam, was one of the earliest 
"attempts at improvement. The few who possessed boats made use of 
" the water as their highway, and the only other mode of communication 
" for several years were crooked and muddy foot-tracks, winding around 



^0 History of Yarmouth. 

" stumps and over rocks, ascending every bill that could be found, not, as 
" one might be led to imagine, for the sake of descending it on the other 
•"side, but to avoid the impassable swamps which, in spite of this precaution, 
" would now and then present a complete obstruction to the wayfarer'e 
" progress. The intercourse between Yarmouth and Chebogue was carried 
■"on by following an Indian foot-path, marked out by blazed trees." * 

And up till a certain point of time, there was little to 
induce, and nothing to compel the settlers to make public 
roads, or to do more than simply clear the approaches to 
their several dwellings. But I think that when once the 
Township was allotted, there were new reasons for fresh 
activity in improving the means of travel. No one, until 
now, knew where or what his lot would be ; and they 
appear to have felt that before the question of ownership 
was settled, they could not, with any justice or prudence, 
incur the expense of making highways. 
* But the very next year after, viz., in 1768, there was 
very considerable activity at least in surveying, if not in 
actual work. Roads have to be surveyed before they are 
built- The first road that was laid out in this County, was 
one with which all who live in the Town are very familiar. 
It ran from the head of the Salt Pond at Chegoggin to 
Milton Bridge, and on south through the present Town, 
past the Sand-beach and Cove, to the corner of Hilton's 
road, sending off a branch to Bunker's Island (so called 
from the brothers Bunker, who owned it) ; and afterwards 
continued from Hilton's corner to Rocky Nook, now called 
Rockville ; but of this extension there is no record. 

But, although the first to be laid out, this was neither 
the most important nor the first to be made. It was only 

* Dr. H. G. Fariflh- 



History of Yarmouth. 61 

a coimtry road. The second that was laid out claimed 
precedence, for it was called 

"the highway in the town, op YARMOUTH," 

and Extended from William Curtis' house, which stood on 
the west side of the road, exactly opposite the old poor- 
house, down the west side of the Chebogue river, past the 
Chebogue Burying Ground and Rocky Nook to Chebogue 
Point. This was designed to be the great thoroughfare of 
the County. So man proposes ; but God disposes. It is 
not exactly so. 

The next road that was laid out was on the east side of 
Chebogue harbour, and extended from Pinkney's point to 
Durkee's Island ; and the two following were respectively 
that from Moody's to Gowen's corner, and Wyman's 
road, extending from central Chebogue to Hibbard's cor- 
ner.* All those roads were laid out in one year, viz., 1768;; 
and I believe we have stated the true reason for the impe- 
tus which such work received. There was nothing more 
done in this way till 1772, when Lovitt's road, as far as 
the dyke, was laid out. And in the same year, that on the 
west side of Yarmouth harbour from the head of the Salt 
Pond at Chegoggin to Fish Point, was surveyed. About 
the same time the cross road from Hilton's corner at the 
Cove (Indian " Walnaic"), to the old Chebogue Meeting 
House, was laid out.f 

Allusion is made in an early Record to a road existing 
in 1774. between the old poor-house and what is now called 
Ai'cadia, going as far as the bridge. All that is here stated, 

* Proprietors' Book, pp. 32, 36, 39, 57, 58. 
t Proprietors' Book, pp. 98, 99, 160, 168. 



B2 History of Yarmouth. 

together with the laying out of a road across Bunker^ g 
Island in 1778, and that on the east side of Chebogue 
River from Durkee's Island to Arcadia, comprises the whole 
of the work, either surveyed or done, during the first 
twenty years of the settlement. 

As for Argyle, it is doubtful whether for many years 
after this there were any roads worthy of the name. That 
district, never having been granted as a whole, but many 
of its most valuable lands given away to men who never 
saw them, suffered all the disadvantages of absenteeism 
and the want of combined interest. It is in no spirit of 
neglect that the Township of Argyle has no fuller notice 
in those and all other topics ; but simply from the circum- 
stance that where records and facts are wanting, details 
cannot be written. 

I PUBLIC WORSHIP. 

The extraction and former homes of the majority of the 
new settlers, is a sufficient ground for expecting them to 
have been men of strong religious views.* They were 
nearly all New Engianders ; and so, with very rare excep- 
tions, Congregationalists, 

Amongst the first settlers there were many who preached. 
Two of those were Ebenezer Moulton, who is described as 
having been "the first who preached in Yarmouth;" and 
Mr. Samuel Wood, who resided at Chebogue. Mr. Moul- 
ton was of the Baptist persuasion ; and whilst Mr. Wqod 
appears to have preached at Chebogue, Mr. Moulton 

* As early as the year 1675, one of the inhabitants was fined twelve shil- 
lings " for bneaking the Sabbath." The nature of the offence is unknown ; 
but even with a wide margin, sucli an institution, well enforced in these 
days, would yield a considerable revenue. 



History of Yarmouth. 63 

preached at Cape Forchue. He lived near to what is now 
corrupted into Elder Head, from the circumstance that he, 
an Elder, lived in the neighhourhood.* He came from 
Brainfield, Mass., in 1761, whither he returned in 1773. 

Mr. Frost, who came to Argyle in or ahout 1762, was in 
the hahit of preaching at Chebogue. 

Mr. Nehemiah Porter, who came from Ipswich in 1767, 
remained here till about 1771, when he returned to Massa- 
chusetts ; and in the year 1765 the Kev. Jonathan Scott,, 
for twenty years pastor of the Congregational church, ar- 
rived. 

To these may be added the name of Aaron Bancroft, who 
came from Beading in Massachusetts in 1780, and to which 
he returned in 1783. This gentleman was the father of 
the well known American historian. From'the same place 
another prominent citizen, Samuel Sheldon Poole, had 
come in 1775. 

This looks like a formidable company of Preachers for a 
very small population ; but in all probability there was this 
likeness to the Apostle in all of them, " they laboured with 
their own hands." 

For the first five years, stated religious meetings were 
held in the several localities in different private houses. 
At length, on the 22nd day of July, 1766, 

THE FIKST PUBLIC BUILDING 

designed for the worship of Almighty God in the Town- 
ship of Yarmouth, was raised at Chebogue. The building 
was framed, boarded and roofed by subscription, and in 

* The original Elder's Head, or the spot where the Elder lived, is the 
projecting flat land which lies to the southward of the point now com" 
monly called Elder Head. 



64 History of Yarmouth. 

this state it was used for seven years. At length, in 1773 
the outside was finished, and pews and seats erected in the 
lower part. Eighteen years after the raising of this struc- 
ture,* the meeting house in Cape Forchue Society was 
erected. The raising of the frame was begun on the 27th, 
and was completed on the 28th of July, 1784. The 
finishing of this house was slow. There was no glass in 
it till 1790; and in 1791, there were no seats in it, 
excepting rough boards laid down loosely, no pews, and no 
pulpit, f The principle upon which, necessarily, work of 

* One of the carpenters who worked on this primitive Chebogue Meeting 
House was David Pearl. He was connected with the Buglers on the hill. 
It happened when one of his daughters, a Miss Pearl, was staying at 
Mrs. Butler's that an English man-of-war anchored in the sound. The 
commander, Captain Blarney, with some of his officers, came on shore, and 
took tea at Mrs. Butler s. The Captain was so fascinated with Miss Pearl, 
who waited on them, that he very shortly afterwards proposed marriage, 
Avhich was accepted. They were married at Mrs. Butler's by a magistrate. 
When he took her on board, her youngest brother, James, accompanied 
her. Her husband afterwards became Admiral Blarney ; and her brother 
James, after serving as midshipman, finally rose to be captain. He sailed 
in an Embassy to China, where his successful management secured for him 
the honour of knighthood. He became Sir James Pearl, — the first and, 
so far, only Yarmouth boy who has become a baronet. But what has been, 
may be again. He visited this country about the year 1827, to look after 
some land formerly owned by his family, as well as other lands granted to 
him in Kemptville, in consideration of his services. When the late Mr. 
William Robertson was in England, he saw Mrs. Blarney living not far 
from London, in great pomp and luxuriance. 

Although Sir James stands the sole Knight of our own raising, many 
who were born and bred in this country have risen to positions of eminence 
in other parts. Instances of this, — not to mention any more, — are the late 
Hon. Ezra Churchill and the Hon. Benj. B. Redding, both great-grandsons 
of early settlers. The former gentleman was for many years a member of 
the Local Legislature, and afterwards a Dominion Senator; whilst the 
latter has filled, and does yet fill, many important and responsible positions 
in the State of California. 

t Scott's Record of the Congregational Church. 




^ABERNACLE JIIhURCH. 

CONGREGATIONAL 



History of Yarmouth. 65 

this kind was done, was essentially "pay and go." There 
were no banks to discount; nor was the principle of 
mortgaging practicable. 

The former of those two buildings was taken down in 
1820, another, more commodious, having been erected 
during the same year, a few hundred yards from its site. 
Since then, a third, still more commodious, has been 
erected. The difficulties under which the first building 
was erected, may be partially realized by reflecting for a 
moment on the condition in which for years the worshippers 
were glad to use it. And as one evidence of our temporal 
prosperity, I suppose it is not saying too much to affirm 
that many individual descendants of the first settlers could 
now alone build and complete, outside and inside, comfort- 
ably and even elegantly, such a structure, much more easily 
than could their forefathers, with all their united efforts."^ 
The reader has here a view of the Tabernacle, the Con- 
gregational place of worship in the Town, and further 
reference to which is elsewhere made. 

* Although Chebogue had its place of worship seventeen years before 
Yarmouth, it is worth recording that the religiously disposed inhabitants 
of Cape Forchue formed themselves into a church on September 2nd, 1767. 
There were but nine male members, including the pastor — the Rev. 
Nehemiah Porter ; and it is interesting to observe how earnest the people 
were, after seven years enforced neglect of christian ordinances. Although 
there could hardly have been more than 140 persons altogether in the 
Settlement, by reference to the Record we find that no fewer than thirty 
children and one adult received the sacrament of baptism within one month.. 



CHAPTER X. 

TOWNSHIP OP ARGYLE. WHEN SET APART. SUCCESSIVE 

SETTLEMENT OF ARGYLE. TUSKET, EEL BROOK 

AND PUBNICO. THE D'ENTREMONTS. 

iOkN the 6th of July, 1771, it was resolved by the 
^r^ Council "that the lands lying between the Town- 
" ship of Yarmouth and Barrington be erected into a 
*' Township, and to be called by the name of 

" ARGYLE." 

This was just ten years after the settlement of Yarmouth, 
and the inhabitants being comparatively few, the circum- 
stances had not demanded any formal designation of the 
district. But frequent grants and continuous settling in 
an undefined territory was troublesome, hence the action 
of the Council. Land grants in Argyle to persons non- 
resident, were frequent and important. Already Lieut. 
Ranald McKinnon's settlement and grant have been 
detailed. Subsequently, on September 6th, 1773, grants 
were made to Edmund and Joseph Crawley, of 1000 
acres, on the peninsula called Nonparison.* And on the 

*This island, called corruptly Nonparison, got its name "Non Peison" 
from this circumstance : At the deportation about 1758, a number of 
Acadians, who had been collected, ready to be taken to Boston, were, till 
arrangements were completed, placed on this island, which was thought to 
be a safe place. But between wading and swimming, they managed to 
escape ; and the same parties afterwards appropriately named it, in derision, 
-Non Prison. 



History of Yarmouth. 67 

Bame date, a grant of 1000 to John Morris, consisting of 
the whole Island, now known as Morris's Island. In 
October, 1765, some of the most beautiful and valuable 
lands on the Tusket Kiver had been granted, amounting, 
in the aggregate, to 10,000 acres, to G-overnor Wilmot and 
other members of his family ; and about the same time, 
2000 acres to the Eev. John Breynton ; all of whom were 
non-residents. I trace much of the subsequent stagnation 
of the Township of Argyle to this fact, that its best lands 
were owned by persons who never saw them, and who were 
in no way concerned about their improvement, further than 
the question what they would bring. 

Already we have seen that as early as 1763, John Frost, 
and fifteen other heads of families, had settled at Argyle. 
Here those sixteen, together with seven others, who had 
subsequently arrived, settled, without any distinct tenure, 
until the 22nd of June, 1771, when they presented a 
memorial to the Council, setting forth " That they had 
" settled themselves, in virtue of Governor Lawrence's 
" proclamation, and had there cultivated lands ; therefore, 
" praying that they may have a grant of the said lands, 
" amounting to two thousand acres, and three small islands 
** containing one hundred and tw^enty acres."* This peti- 
tion was granted on July the 10th of the same year. 

Prominent amongst the petitioners are the well-known 
names of Frost, Groodwin, Nickerson, and Spinney, — all of 
whom were from Noav England. The last named family, 
that of John Spinney, who came from Portsmouth, with seven 
sons, is as striking an example as can anywhere be found of 

* Council Minutes. 



68 History of Yarmouth. 

numerical increase. I am informed, by an old and respect" 
able member of the family, that John Spinney, who came to 
Abuptic in 1762, is the ancestor of probably five hundred 
living descendants, about half of whom are in the County. 
Similarly wide spread is the family of Frost, two mem- 
bers of which, John Frost, Esq., and Captain Jeremiah, 
were prominent men in their day. John, besides being a 
preacher, was also a magistrate, — and in neither capasritj 
did he escape without serious trouble. On the 8th of 
July, 1775, the complaint of Eanald McKinnon^ J. P. 
for Queen's County, was read before the Council, setting 
forth that " He had been assaulted and knocked down by 
" John and Hugh Nickerson, and that on complaint to 
*' Mr. Frost, one of the Justices of the Peace, for redress, 
" he could obtain no other answer, than that the said 
" Nickerson had already lodged a complaint against the 
" said McKinnon. It was ordered that a copy of the com- 
*' plaint be sent to the said Frost, and that he be called on 
" to answer it." The answer confesses ■' He had found 
" the offenders and acknowledges his ignorance of the due 
''method of proceeding." The Council "'Resolved that 
*' the said Mr. Frost should be suspended from the office 
'' of Justice of the Peace, .until further order." As he did 
exercise his office afterwards, it is evident he was reinstated. 
But he got into much more serious trouble. In the mouth 
of August, 1775, the Militia having been called out, in 
consequence of the attitude of affairs in the New England 
States, John Frost, Esq., and Captain Jeremiah Frost, 
were complained of by Benoni D'Entremont, and other 
French Acadians, of harassing them., Joseph Crawley 



History of Yarmouth. 69 

appeared before the Council, substantiated the charges, 
and proceeded to prefer others to the effect — 

" That the said Captain had used arguments to seduce the Acadians from 
" their duty, by telling them they would find the advantage of taking part 
"" with the Americans." 

And further declared that — 

" Justice Frost, in one of his public discourses, expressed his hopes and 
■" wishes that the British forces in America might be returned to England 
*' confuted and confused." 

The result was the opinion of the Council — 

" That Jeremiah Frost, Captain of the Militia in Argyle, be dismissed 
■" from any command in said Militia, and from any other employment 
" under Goyernment."*^ 

The Governor, having considered the state of the Militia 
in the Township of Argyle, and the disposition of the New 
England people and the Acadians there, and the necessity 
of putting them under a command of a proper and well 
qualified person, proposed that 

"Lieut. McKinnon, who had been long resident there, and well ac- 
■" quainted with the inhabitants, and having already a command in the 
*' Militia there, do take on him the comma-Ed of all the Militia in the 
" County of Queens, and of the French Canadians in the County of Clare, 
" with the rank of Colonel of Militia, And, in order to put the Militia 
" of that County on a proper footing, especially as from the declaration of 
" Mr. Joseph Crawley it appears that pains had been taken by iU-minded 
" persons to seduce the French Acadians from their allegiance to the King." 

The Governor further proposed — 

"" That Mr, McKinnon do, without loss of time, proceed to Argyle with 
•" twenty men of the recruits now raising here for the King's service, and 
** be furnished with four barrels of gunpowder and ball in proportion, to 
*' be by him accounted for." 

And the Governor acquainted the Council — 

" That he thought it would be proper to recommend Mr. McKinnon to 
" the General, fof the rank of Captain in the army."t 

All of which was done. 

* Council Eecords. 

t Council Minutes, August 23rd, 1775, 



70 History of Yarmouth. . 

Leaving the Arg.yle settlement, we must retrace our 
steps once more in point of time to 1767. In that year 
many of the 

FRENCH ACADIANS, 

who had heen carried away, returned to Nova Scotia, from . 
which they had been banished.* Their's was certainly a 
hard lot. Distrusted by the English, those of them who 
did not seek refuge in France, who were carried to the 
States, were finally driven from thence as Papists. It will 
be remembered that the D'Entremonts, Vt^ho did not flee to 
their ancestral home, were carried to Roxbury andWalpole, 
in Mass. They came back in the year mentioned above, 
after about ten years' exile. And on the 5th of October, 
eighteen families, indiscriminately described as "Acadians,'* 
having applied for land whereon to settle, it was advised 
" that on their taking the oath of allegiance, land should 
" be assigned to them in the neighbourhood of Barrington 
" and Yarmouth." f Some of those families settled finally 
at Pubnico, and others at Eel Brook. The names will 
show at a glance that all were not Acadians ; but other 
circumstances indicate that although some of them were 
purely English in descent, they were probably bound 
together by the ties of a common faith. As co-religionists 
they were in search of a home where they could enjoy 
their religion free and unmolested. On the 6th of Novem- 

* There is ground for believing, however, that the deportation was not 
so complete as tradition has made it. As reliable information comes to 
light, it will be found that considerable numbers of the French Acadians 
iled to the woods and lived, for years even, among the Indians. Others 
again were not disturbed ; Victor Babine, on Pierre Point, was one of 
those happy exceptions. 

t Council Minutes, October 5th, 1767. 



History of Yarmouth. 71 

ber, 1771, their request for land was granted. Then 
upwards of 2000 acres were granted to Philip Brown, 
Walter Larkin, Benjamin Sealy, Lange Amereau, Charles 
Belliveau, Abel Duon, Peletiah Goodwin, Joseph, Paul, 
and Benoni D'Entremont. There is no doubt but that, 
although for the more part the descendants of the Larkins 
and other families are now Protestant, they were at first 
apparently bound to the French Acadians by religious con- 
siderations. There are records of an early date of members 
of their families having been baptised, confirmed, married, 
and buried as Eoman Catholics.* The families of Hines, 
Larkins, Murphy, and Lennox, were originally of Lish 
extraction. Nearly opposite the house of Mr. Manasseh 
Larkin, at the head of the river, stood the primitive Aca- 
dian Chapel and Presbytery, and nearer the shore, on a 
beautiful knoll, the traditional last resting place of the pre- 
expulsion Acadians is still pointed out : but there is no 
trace left of its former sacred character, and it is now used 
as a fish-curing ground. 

On the property of Mr. Reuben Larkins is the first Eng- 
lish burial ground, which was used from about 1767. It lies 
in a most ruinous and decayed condition, without any marks 
of loving care. Briars and thorns cover the old tombstones, 
many of which have fallen and lie broken and neglected. 

Once more then we find the 

d'entremont family 
occupying their ancestral domain. They settled at Pub- 
nico Point, on the west side of the harbour. There was 
plenty of fowl, moose, and fish ; and all the water and land 

* Eegister of St. Peter's, Pubnico. 



72 



History of Yarmouth. 



convenience they desired. The story of their return is well 
told by the Cure Goudot : — 

" They landed on the shores of Nova Scotia. One of the D'Entremonts 
" reached Halifax, and the Governour who knew at least from history, the 
' ' family of the D'Entremonts, asked him where he and his family were going ? 
" ' To Canada to enjoy our religion,' replied he. ' Stay here,' said the Grover- 
" nor, " establish yourselves upon whatever part of the coast you please, and 
'•■ I promise to supply you once a year with a priest.' - They chose Pobomkon, 
" which had belonged to their ancestors : and the Governor faithful to his 
" word, sent them every year a Canadian Priest, to whom the English 
" Government granted £60 per annum."* 

The following is the genealogical table of the D'Entre- 
mont family, so far as it applies to the fifth generation of 
those who are now in this County. The correctness of it is 
certified by the French historian E. Kameau, and is taken 
from a paper in his handwriting left by him in the Parish 
Register of Pubnico : I have left out the collateral branches : 

( Cyrille, 
' Joseph. ^ Celestin, 
Joseph Eli. 
Jacques, 
Etienne, 
Benjamin, 

HiLAIRE, 

Joseph Levy, 

Gabriel. 

Shnon,\ 

Jean, 

Joseph Vincent, 

Joseph, 

Philippe, 

Marc. 

* Cur6 Goudot. Parish Register of St. Peter's, Pubnico. 

t Those names italicised represent living survivors of the 5th generation. 



Philippe — Jacques-Jacques. < 



Paul. 



^ Benoni. 



History of Yarmouth. 73 

Philippe was he who arrived in 1691, as first Baron of 
Pobomcon, and his sons Abraham, Philippe, and Jacques — 
the last of whom only is here named, — were married to the 
daughters of De La Tour. One or two persons still living, 
recollect having seen the old men Paul and Benoni. The 
latter was the first French Acadian magistrate in the 
Province ; an office to which he was appointed about 1810 ; 
and he was also a Judge in the Inferior Court of Common 
Pleas. His son Simon, who is the oldest living member 
of that family, was the second magistrate, the first French 
member of Assembly ; and also the first French collector 
of Customs. 

The French settlement which is known as 

TUSKET RIVER, 

below the village, was settled about 1766, immediately 
after Kanald McKinnon vacated his first residence on 
Amirault's Hill for his second home at Argyle, by Jacques 
Amirau (corrupted from Amirault into other forms, as 
Amero and even Mew), Joseph Moulaison, Jean Pierre 
Muis and Charles Doucette The district known as 

EEL BROOK, . 

(Indian, OoPTOMAGOGiN, "the place for eels,") was settled, 
as was also the Wedge, about the same time as Pubnico. 
The same causes operated in both cases. Eel Brook was 
taken possession of in 1767 by seven Acadians, none of 
whom had been deported. They were Jean Bourque, 
Dominique Pothier, Joseph Babin, Pierre Surette, Pierre 
Muis, Louis Muis, and Pierre Le Blanc ; — the last named for 
many years having for the more part, in common with other 
Acadian families, adopted the English form of their name. 



* 

74 History of Yarmouth. 

Dominique Potbier is said to have been one of twenty-nine, 
wbo escaped from a prison in Port Koyal, by making a hole 
with their pocket knives, under the prison floor, to the out- 
side of the prison court, a distance of twelve yards. 

THE WEDGE 

(Indian "Nizigouziack," and "Olsegon") was likewise set- 
tled by returning Acadians in 1767. They were originally 
four in number, viz : Eustace Corporon, Pierre Kobicheau, 
Jean Doucette and Pierre Inard.* Eustace Corporon was 
brought back from Boston, where he and others had been 
carried, about the year 1758, to pilot a vessel looking after 
Acadians, chiefly in the Tusket and Argyle Rivers, with 
which he was well acquainted. They explored the Tusket, 
on the banks of which Corporon saw Indians, who however 
would not injure him.f They left the Tusket for the Ab- 
uptic, and while lying at the mouth of the river, a boat's 
crew landed on a marsh, on which were some sheep ; the 
Indians were waiting ready for them. There were eight 
men left dead on the marsh ; and Corporon took to the 
woods with the Indians. The French Acadian is now a 
most important element in this County ; and if the numer- 
ical increase continues for a hundred years in the same 
ratio as it has during the past century, and the English 

* I am indebted to John Bourque, Esq. and J. B. Le Blanc, Esq., of Eel 
Brook, and Simon D'Entremont, Esq., of Pubnico, for much of this infor- 
mation. The names of those gentlemen are a guarantee for accuracy. 

t A curious and interesting illustration of the very friendly terms on 
which the Indians and the French lived before the expulsion, is found in 
an old letter written from Cherbourg in 1764, by one of the Eefugees, to 
her friends at Pubnico. The writer, Margaritte D'Entremont, after send- 
ing her love to all her brothers and sisters, uncles and cousins, adds, with 
true French politeness, "faites des comjDliments aux Sauvagesses" — present 
my compliments to the Indian women. 



History of Yarmouth. ^^ 

ratio be no greater, they will be more numerous than the 
English. It is therefore of the first magnitude, that their 
education should be of such a kind as to fit them, as a 
whole, to fill that position well which Providence seems to 
design for them. General information is much needed 
among them ; and particularly a fair, impartial account of 
their own history in this Province. As an illustration of 
this, one of the most intelligent Acadians, a gentleman and 
a magistrate, writing to me as late as 1872, says, with the 
greatest simplicity and child-like confidence in the accu- 
racy of his conviction, that "all the French were scattered 
" from the country because they ivoulcl not take the oath of 
" abjuration against their oivn Roman Catholic religion" ! 
To the leisured few, a drive on either side of the Puhnico 
harbour is very pleasant, and will amply repay the tourist. 
The shores are varied by numerous coves, as pleasing to 
the eye as they are convenient to the inhabitants. In the 
fruitful and cultivated fields and cleared lands which skirt 
the shores, and which are backed by the deeper woods, 
stand numerous and comfortable Acadian homesteads. 
Time, which tries all, and also which cures all, has given 
the Acadian ample revenge. For, where, in 1775 there 
could, at the best, have been but a very few log huts of the 
rudest kind ; when comforts were at once few and uncer- 
tain,* and the guides of their consciences hostile to Eng- 

* Although the D'Entremonts were the owners of large and yaluable 
tracts of country, their home comforts and possessions were but rude in 
kind, and scanty in number. About 1770 some of the returned Exiles write 
to their friends in Cherbourg asking if there were any treasures secreted 
anywhere, and chiefly, if there was any money ? The answer assures them 
there is no money ; but if they make search among certain islands, and 
under the stumps of certain trees, they will find a ploughshare, some mill 
iron work, and a number of moose ("orinial") skins^ 



76 History of Yarmouth. 

land and their own interests, there are now nearly two 
hundred substantial, well built houses, for the more part 
well furnished with all manner of useful and ornamental 
effects ; the people happy and contented, and conspicuous 
only for every feeling of loyalty and attachment to the 
British throne. 



CHAPTER XI. 

FRESH ARRIVALS. MEMORIAL FOR A RE-ADJUSTMENT OF 

COUNTY LIMITS. COLONIAL TROUBLES OF 1T75, 

POLITICS OF THE PERIOD. 

fl^EFORE we digressed into the Township of Argyle^ 
^^^ we had brought up the several threads of Yarmouth 
Township progress, till about 1771^2, embracing a period 
of ten years. Following up the important question of the 
introduction of 

FRESH SETTLING ELEMENT, 

we cannot expect that after the division of the Township, 
the influx of new settlers would continue to flow so very 
markedly. There was little to induce them from the land 
point of view, for that was all taken up ; and new comers 
had to purchase. 

It is true that in many cases, land sold very cheaply. 
In one instance one settler bought from another, a whole 
right, or share for £10 Os, Od. ; and in another instance,, 
"a full share or right of 666 acres,* together with the house 
" and barn and cleared land" was sold for £18 8s. dd.\ 

Still, families contiiiued to arrive, and within the next 
ten years several, in the language of the Government 
Committee, "pitched and settled" in Yarmouth, som^e of 
whom exercised considerable influence in their time. Such 

* Wherever the word "share" occurs, it represents this extent of land, 
t Pp. 85, 43 and 114, Proprietors' Book. 



'^'8 History of Yarmouth. 

were Miner Huntington and Samuel Sheldon Poole, both 
of whom will receive further notice. 

It will be remembered, that at this time, Yarmouth 
Township was part of Queen's County; Liverpool being 
the County Town ; and there all Law Courts were held, 
Records lodged, and everything done that pertained to 
public business. We need not wonder then, that although 
yet young in years and weak in numbers, the inhabitants 
of Yarmouth should have desired the advantages of a 
County Town. Accordingly on July 4th, 1774, they sought 
the independence of their County. They addressed a 
petition to the Governor in Council, which I here append : 

" The petition of the Inhabitants of the Township of Yarmouth, humbly 
" showeth that we the subscribers do set forth the clifEculties your suppliants 
"labour under, on account of our lying so far distant from our County 
" Town, viz., Liverpool — and, do supplicate your excellency and the 
" Honourable his Majesty's Council to extricate us out of our trouble, and 
"let us off from Liverpool, that we may enjoy the privelege of a County: 
" including the Township of Barrington, and extending to the northward 
" on the sea coast until it meet with the County of Annapolis Royal. The 
"reason of our supplicating your Excellency and the Hon'ble Council to 
"be set off from Liverpool as a separate County is as follows: the distance 
"and difBculty of the way; the way being embarrassed with lakes and 
"rivers which renders it also most impossible for us under our present 
" circumstances to git a road to Liverpool ; so that we never had any benefit 
" of the Court held at Liverpool nor G-aol; nor doth your supplicants ever 
"expect any benefit fi-om thence hereafter by reason of the difficulty s above 
"stated.* 

* The following characteristic story of a former well known Magistrate 
in this County illustrates the difficulty experienced, exactly a hundred years 
ago, in administering justice. That gentleman's Larder was broken into, 
and considerable provisions were carried ofi" by a neighbour. There was no 
accessible Justice of the Peace, and it is said that he lodged the information 
with himself, issued the warrant, himself being constable ; he took the 
accused to his own house and there examined him, found him guilty, 
sentenced him, and imprisoned him in his own cellar. And certainly in 
the absence of any other Magistrate or Constable, it is difficult to see how 
redress could have been obtained. Still, the law gives no man a right to do 
wrong. 



History of Yarmouth. 19 

" Thel?efore> we do supplicate your Excellency and the Honourable 
" Council, that we may be relieved from paying taxes to Liverpool, to build 
" and support Court HousCj etc., Gaol and other County charges. Also, 
" your supplicants do request .... that we may have the privilege 
" of a County Town in Yarmouth; that being, as we think, the most sen* 
" trical for the same." .... 

[Signed] John Crawleyj 

Epheaim Cook, and 
46 others. 

I have spared the reader a large part of this prolix 
nal:ration, — the very length of which roust have operated 
unfavourably with the Council. The prayer vras not 
granted : but I think we may trace the subsequent appoint- 
ment of Mr. John Crawley andBenj. Barnard as Justices of 
the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, to be held at Yar- 
mouth,^ — at which time also Joseph Crawley was appointed 
Clerk of the said Court — to its influence. The petition 
w^as presented on July the fourth ; and the Justices were 
appointed on the 27th of November of the same year. 
This is the only answer, I believe, their petition ever 
received, until the County of Shelburne, with Shelburne as 
the County Town, was set off in 1784* 

To the discomforts of the inhabitants of Yarmouth, for 
the time being, must be added their uncomfortable nearness 
to the most deeply 

DISAFFECTED NEW ENGLAND COLONIES J 

the unhappy troubles between which and the Mother 
Country, began to develope themselves in the year 1775. 
The Governor and Council were in considerable difficulty 
and danger, arising from various causes and emanating 
from unexpected quarters; and, as some kind of guarantee, 

* Council Minutes of dates named. 



80 History of Yarmouth. 

they published an order requiring all persons to take the 
oath of allegiance. The complaints against Justice Frost 
and Major Jeremiah Frost were preferred on the 23rd of 
August ; and the order on allegiance was promulged on the 
26th. Although they had been resident in Yarmouth for 
years ; we find at this juncture, Seth Barnes, George King, 
John Barnard, James Kelley and Stephen Blaney taking 
the oaths to Government.* There is no ground for con- 
sidering them to have Ibeen suspected ; but probably they 
took that step as a matter of personal security and private 
advantage, inasmuch as a great deal of their business lay 
with those Colonies ; as well as in compliance with a pub- 
lic requirement. During the course of the year things 
became, to say the least, unpleasant to the residents on 
this western shore. On the fifteenth of December, James 
Monk, Marshal of the Provincial Court of Vice Admiralty, 
declared that, among other depredations committed by two 
armed schooners sent out by Congress with eighty men in 
each, "the said schooners went to Cape Forchue, and there 
" landed their men and made prisoners of the inhabitants, 
" and took a brig bound for Nantucket by orders of the 
" American Congress to Machias with prisoners which had 
" come to Cape Forchue contrary to the orders from Con- 
" gress and was supposed to be run away with the cargo, 
" and afterwards released the inhabitants except two or 
" three officers of the Militia." The construction of the 
sentences composing this declaration is somewhat difficult 
to analyze ; but the thing intended to be set forth is j)lain 
enough. 

* Council Minutes, July 17, 1775. 



History of Yatmouth. 81 

The disturbance between the Colonies and the Mother 
Country proved very trying ; and several inhabitants of 
Yarmouth on the same day (Dec. 15th) presented a 

MEMORIAL 

to the Governor and Council setting forth and professing 
their loyalty to the King ; that they are almost all of New 
England, where they have many relations ; that two armed 
vessels, with pirates of that country, had lately invaded 
their town, and taken away some officers of light infantry ; 
that they were acquainted if they would not oppose them, 
they should be unmolested ; that they were unable to de- 
fend themselves, and therefore requested permission either 
to go to New England, or to come to Halifax, or else to 
remain neutral. 

The reply of the Council was plain, and not to be either 
mistaken or avoided. They were 

*' unanimously of opinion that the request and proposition of the memor- 
" ialists could neither be received or admitted, a neutrality being utterly 
" absurd and inconsistent with the duty of subjects, who are always bound 
" by the laws to take arms in defence of Q-OTernment, and oppose and repel 
" all hostile attempts and invasions ; that the duty they owe as subjects 
*' cannot be dispensed with, and that they must be obedient to the laws of 
" the Province. In the mean time every possible measure will be taken for 
^' their aid and protection. And it was resolved that application be made 
" to the Admiral for a ship of war to be stationed at port Eoseway in such 
^' a manner as will best protect the inhabitants of that part of the coast."* 

During the season of 1776, several 

DEPREDATIONS 

were mad€ along the shore ; and, in accordance with the 
resolution of Council of Dec. 15th in the preceding year, it 
was determined (Oct. 16th) to send fifty men to Yarmouth, 
and to place two armed vessels on the coast. It is not to 

* Council Minutes. 



82 History of Yarmouth. 

be doubted, but that the body of the New England settlers 
here were loyal, notwithstanding the signs of incipient 
disloyalty already notioed. But, without question, some 
had divided affections ; others were for the Ameriean party ; 
others again, having regard for interest, tried to belong to 
both. The Township of Yarmouth has the notoriety of 
her first member, Malachy Salter, having been arrested for 
treasonable correspondence. He was required to give one 
thousand pounds security for his good behavioar. But we 
have also the satisfaction of knowing that he was acquit- 
ted.* Although it was determined to send fifty men west- 
ward in October, 1776, for some reason they were not sent. 
And two years afterwards, November, 1778, it having ap- 
peared that intercourse was kept with the rebels by way of 
Yarmouth and other places, it was resolved to ask for fifty 
men "to prevent such intercourse, and to protect the coast 
"from any further insults or depredations." But I doubt, 
although this was also resolved, 'whether they ever came. 
Be that as it may, no very serious loss or damage can be 
shown to have been sustained by this County. On the 
contrary, several families foreseeing hostilities, and not 
caring to engage in them, left the New England States, 
and settled here about this time. 

THE POLITICS OF THIS COUNTY 

were certainly far from being of an exciting kind during the 
first twenty years. After the settlement of fifty residents, 
a member could be sent to represent their interests in tlie 
House of Assembly. The first commission to send a mem- 
ber was issued in 1765 ; and, in the following year, our 

* Minutes of Council, October 10, 1777. 



History of Yarmouth. 83 

first member, Malachy^alter, of doubtful memory, " took 
the oaths and his seat."* He also represented this Town- 
ship in the next Parliament, in which he took his seat on 
the 9th of June, 1772. This gentleman never resided in 
Yarmouth, and beyond the facts already mentioned,, we 
know nothing of him. 

Our second member was John Crawley, who is spoken 
of in the memorial to have a separate County set off, as 
''our member." But having failed to take his seat, it was 
declared vacant in June, 1775, by the Assembly. 

The third Township member was James Monk, Esquire. 
He, like Mr. Salter, was a non-resident. Such men were 
probably most accessible ; but they could not, in the nature 
of things, be very deeply interested. As a proof of this,, 
he lost his seat in the session of 1776 through non-attend- 
ance. He did one Jittle piece of business, the first for this 
Township by any of its members. On November 2, 1775,. 
he brought in " a bill for establishing the times for the- 
" holding an Inferior Court of Common Pleas at Yarmouth 
" in Queens." The issue has been already stated. 

Writs were issued in 1777 and 1778 for the election of 
a member; but none was returned till October 9, 1780,. 
when Mr. Richard Cuningham, also a non-resident, took 
the usual oaths and his seat, as our fourth representative. 

The fifth member for this Township was Samuel Shel- 
don Poole, a man who was well known in his time. He 
represented Yarmouth, with the slight exceptions of the 
elections in 1800 of Nathan Utley, and that of Samuel 
Marshall in 1812, for fifty years. He was»a native of 

* Journal, dctober 24th, 17.66. 



84 History of Yarmouth. 

Beading in Mass. He had been educated at Harvard, and 
was originally intended for the ministry. He came to 
Yarmouth in 1775, and, being a man of more than ordinary 
education, he soon made himself felt in a variety of ways. 
He was in the habit for many years of preaching at Che- 
bogue. In 1785 he was made a Justice of the Peace. He 
continued to represent Yarmouth long after his physical 
strength was equal to the task. He is said to have been a 
man of quick temper, of great integrity, of great simplicity 
of manner, and of an unblemished moral character. Many 
amusing stories, more or less true, are yet remembered by 
the older generations, illustrating the several features of 
his character. He was styled by Sir James Kempt, at 
whose official dinners great attention was shown to Mr, 
Poole, as early as 1826, " the father of the house." He 
lived to be eighty-five years of age, and died in the year 
1835 in the communion of the Church of England, and 
was buried in the old Church Yard, 



CHAPTEK XII. 

THIRD DECADE 1780-90. LOYALIST ELEMENT IN THE COUNTY. 

CAPE FORCHUE MEETING-HOUSE. ESCHEATED PROPERTY. 

PARTITION OF THE TOWNSHIP OF YARMOUTH. 

ORIGINAL SETTLERS OP TUSKET. 

CHURCH COVENANT OF 1784. 

A BOUT the year 1781, an unsettled period, — a some- 
'^^ what painful affair happened at Chegoggin, in the 
house of old Mrs. Porter. Two of&cers, as one version has 
it, came there and begged a night's lodging, for which they 
paid, intending to leave in the morning. They were 
Hessians, and could not speak a word of English. Two 
young men came to ask Mrs. Porter to a wedding. One 
of the young men laid his hand on one of the officers, 
pretending to have been sent from Halifax, and said, "you 
" are my prisoner." A scuffle ensued, in which the young 
man got the officer's sword and stabbed him through the 
body, killing him instantly. All night the other lay with 
his arm under the head of his dead comrade. At day dawn 
he left the house ; and they buried the murdered man near 
Zebina Shaw's, at the head of the Salt Pond. Nothing 
more was ever heard of them. The affair was investigated 
at Shelburne, but nothing was proved against the young 
man, who pleaded self defence.* 

* As narrated by Mrs. Farish. 



86 History of Yarmouth. 

The mention of Shelburne reminds us that in the year 
1784, the former County of Queens was circumscribed, by 
having the Townships of Shelburne, Barrington, Argyle, 
and Yarmouth set off as a separate County, with the new 
Loyalist Town of Shelburne for the County Town. This 
was some relief to those who, ten years before, had peti- 
tioned to have Yarmouth set off with other Townships, 
having Yarmouth as the County Town. The distance was 
now 70 instead of 115 miles. Between 1782 and 1784 
Shelburne had become the most populous city in Nova 
Scotia, with handsomely laid out streets, and complete 
civic arrangements ; the population being nearly ten 
thousand; and consisting for the more part of men who 
would sooner leave and lose all, than deny their King or 
Country. Many of them were gentlemen by birth, educa- 
tion and station ; a large proportion had been men of 
means ; all of them were strongly attached to British 
institutions. To the Loyalist proper, that is, those who 
strove till they could strive no longer, as distinguished from 
the earlier Refugees, who left the States at the first scent 
of possible hostilities, must be added a third element, the 
disbanded Hessians, who, for the more part, were rewarded 
for their services, by liberal grants of land. 

It is a matter of painful history how rapidly Shelburne 
fell; more rapidly, if possible, than it rose. But the 
result, which alone concerns us here at present, was, that 
many of those men travelled westward, settling finally, 
some at Argyle, others at Tusket ; some at Plymouth, and 
others again at Yarmouth. It is manifest that such an 
element as this being introduced into the County could 



History of Yavmouth, 87 

not but ultimately exercise a very wide spread social influ- 
ence. The j^-inciiDal settlement, or as we may express it, 

THE ORIGINAL CENTEE OF LOYALIST POPULATION 

in this County, was in Tusket; and thence they finally 
spread into the vicinity and surrounding district. They 
arrived there about the year 1785 ; and at first consisted 
of twenty -five families, viz. : Hatfields, Lent, Blauvelts, 
Sarvents, Smith, Andrews, Tooker, and others, now 
household words among us, many of whom brought their 
negro slaves with them. At the time they settled, they 
found many patches of cultivated grounds, vestiges of the 
old Acadians. These.grounds were over-run with a growth 
of young trees. They also found cattle grown quite wild, 
which had belonged to the French ; and, I am told that the 
same breed is still found in the County, hardier though 
smaller, than others since introduced. The following 
account written by one of the first settlers, — Mrs. Van 
Tyle — long afterwards known as "Aunt Deborah Smith," 
tracing the progress of her own and other families from 
New York to Tusket is worthy of record : — 

" We left New York on the last day of October, 1783, in the schooner 
" Cherry Bounce," Captain John Gilchrist, master, and arrived at Port 
" Eoseway the 7th Wovember, so called then, now Shelburne. The snow 
" was about two feet deep; went up to the town, there were a number of 
" houses building, but none finished ; plenty of marquees, tents and sheds 
" for the people to shelter under, which thej greatly needed at that season 
" of the year. It looked dismal enough. Called on some of our friends in 
" their tents, Col. VanBuskirk and his wife and two young daughters in 
" one ; and his daughter Sarah, Lawyer Combauld's wife, and babe in ano- 
" ther. I thought they did not look able to stand the coming winter, which 
" proved a very hard one. The servants had sheds of boards to cook under. 
" We heard the hammer and saw day and night. Fine times for carpen- 
" ters. Three days after we sailed down to Robertson's Cove, and there 
" remained frozen up all winter, and the whole harbour too until the 17th 
" March. During the winter, father and Mr. Van Tyle .built a log house 



88 History of Yarmouth. 

" on shore, having provisions on board the schooner, but when the spring 
" came and we saw nothing but rocks and naoss, they ma(Je up their minds 
" to look for a more favourable place. They had orders from the Survey- 
" ors to take up land where they could find it unlocated. On the 20th 
" March they left the family, and with thirteen others set sail for Yar- 
" mouth, Joshua Trefry, pilot. There they found the land all taken up; 
" were recommended to Tusket. Found the land there looked more favour- 
" able, returned to Shelburne, took the family on board, and arrived at 
"Tusket 11th May, 1784. At this time there was no one settled on the 
" river, but the French. In the fall two families moved up, Mr. John 
" Withby and Mr. John Williams. November 1st, Mr. Morris and Capt. 
" Leonard came up to lay out the land about the lakes and at other places. 
" In the course of the summer of 1785, Mr. James Hatfield and family 
" came to Tusket ; uncle Job Hatfield came up in the course of the summer, 
"and others, viz.: — Mr. Lent, Mr. VanNorden, Mr. Maybee, and Mr. 
" Sarvent. The river abounded with fish, salmon, and herring ; and there 
" was a large business carried on exporting them to the West Indies. 
* «• ii * * * * *" 

Before ten years, this new settlement bad widely spread 
and clearly defined its position. It aimed at the erection 
of a new 'district, to be called Frakkljn Township, wdtb 
Tusket as its centre, lying mid-way between the Township 
of Yarmouth and the then distant settlement at Argyle. 
The subjoined memorial will serve to prove this, as well 
as to illustrate other points ; as, for example, to show 
who were the then residents in Tusket and vicinity, 
meaning thereby ^Plymouth and both sides of the river, 
as far as Gavel's on the one side, and Andrews' on the 

other : — 

" To the Eight Eev. Father in God, Charles, Bishop of Nova Scotia, the 
" memorial of the inhabitants of Franklin Township and its vicinity : 
" Hujnbly sheweth, That your Memorialists, members of the Church of 
" England, and Loyalists, being destitute of religious worship and desirous 
" and willing to contribute to the building of a Church and support of a 
" Missionary to the utmost of our abilities, most earnestly solicit your 
" patronage and benevolent intercession with his Excellency the Governor, 
" to appropriate one hundred pounds to our assistance, and we promise, 
" Eight Eeverend Sir, as soon as the season will admit, to enter into con- 
*' tract with proper workmen, and to join our subscriptions and all neces- 



History of Yarmouth. 

" sary proceedings, to carry the same pious work into execution. 
" your Memorialists, etc, 

" Franklin Town, April 6th, 1793." 



And 



Gabriel Van Norden, 
James Van Emburgh, 
Nathaniel Richardson, 
Job Hatfield, 
Nicholas Lawrence, 
James Blauvelt, 
William Colsworthy, 
James Lent, 
Thomas Eidgway, 
Jonathan Horton, 
William Halstead, 
Jacob Hatfield, 
David Ogden, 
Cornelius Van Norden, 
Grilbert Van Emburgh, 



Benedict Byrn, 
Matthias Byrn, 
David Van Norden, 
Peter Earl, 
Abraham Sarvent, 
Job Smith, 
James Hatfield, 
Jacob Hatfield, Jr., 
Isaac Decker, 
Titus Hurlburt, 
John Van Emburgh, 
Samuel Andrews, 
Stephen VanNorden, 
James Sloane, 
Gilbert Daniells, 



Lewis Blanchard, 
Jacob Tooker, 
Daniel Godard, 
Abraham M. Hatfield, 
John Wood, 
John Gavel, 
John Purdy, 
Robert Symes, 
Jesse Grey, 
Hugh Conner, 
Robert King, 
John Ackerman, 
James Gisnone, 
George Gavel, 
Sebastian NeaU. 



I have not inserted the sums which are set down against 
the individual names, as not coming within the scope of 
my purpose ; hut several are subscribers for ^65 Os. Od., and 
considering the time, and the circumstances of the Memo- 
rialists, the whole subscription bears marks of earnestuess 
and attachment to their religious principles. 



Although we are now describing the period approaching 
to 1790, we find that 

CHEBOGUE WAS STILL MORE IMPORTANT THAN YARMOUTH. 

This is evidenced by the Town meetings, which were 
almost invariably held before this in Chebogue. After the 
meeting-house was built in Cape Forchue in 1784, reference 
to the building of which has already been made, meetings 
in Yarmouth became more frequent ; and on such occasions, 
they were almost always held in the meeting-house. This 
was quite natural, and in accordance with New England 
ideas of Government, which required that Civil officers 
should also be Church officers. A proof, if any more were 



90 History of Yarmoutlu 

needed, of tlie bitlierto comparative importance of Che'bogue, 
is the fact that it had its meeting-house seventeen years 
before Yarmouth. I have thought it well worth while to 
insert the 

CO-TENANT AND AGREEMENT 

that was entered into by the severally interested parties, 
together with the names of t]^e subscribers. It need hardly 
be added that after the lapse of ninety years, those whose 
names are appended have long since been gathered to their 
rest : — 

" This Covenant and Agreement made and executed at Yarmouth in the 
" Province of Nova Scotia on the 12th day of Jan'y A. D. 1784 By and 
"between us inhabitants of Yarmouth aforesaid, whose names are hereunto 
" subscribed Witnesseth, that we the said Subscribers do bind and oblige 
" ourselves each to the i-est to build a meeting house for the Public Worship 
" of God on the Easterly side of Cape Forchue Harbour and on a Lott of 
" Land known by the name of the Ministerial Lott. Further we do Cove- 
" nant and agree that all moneys voted from time to time untill said house 
" shall be compleated shall be assess'd in just and equal proportion accord- 
" ing to each mans interest to be done by a stall bill made for that purpose. 
" We do further agree that all moneys so voted shall be assessed by such 
" persons as the Subscribers shall chuse and appoint and when so assessed 
" shall be paid into the hands of such persons as shall be appointed to 
" collect the same and those assessors are hereby invested with full power 
" to authoi'ise said Collector or Collectors to make distress upon such 
" person or persons as shall refuse to pay such assessment so made or any 
" part thereof and all moneys so assessed and raised to be for the purpose 
" above mentioned and that only and that such collector or collectors shall 
" pay all such moneys so collected by them into the hands of such person or 
" persons as shall be appointed to receive the same We do further covenant 
" and agree that all matters relating to the premises above mentioned such 
" as the size of the house, sums of money to be raised, chusing of OfScers 
"and selling the Pews or the Grround for them shall be voted by a Major 
" vote of the Subscribers. 

" For the performance of the above the subscribers and each of us bind 
" ourselves firmly in the sum of fifty pounds current money of the Province 
" of Nova Scotia. 

" That they and every one of them shall on his part well and faithfully 
" perform all and everything contained in the premises above. 

" That they shall pay and keep all and singular the Contracts, payments 



History of Yarmouth. 



91 



" and agreements which on his or their parts ought to be paid and kept and 
" that according to the true intent and meaning of the above articles with- 
" out fraud or coyer. In witness whereof we have set our hands." 



John Walker 
David Raymond 
Jas. Goudey 
Thos. Parry 
David Harris 
Rufus Utley 
John Landers 
Benj. Redding 
Paul G-owin 
Cors. Harris 
Wm. Landers 
Willoughby SoUows 
Ambrose Dennis 
Eleazer Butler 
Jesse Rice 
Will'm Haskell 
Philip Groudey 
Jonathan Corning 
Zachariah Foot 
Jabez Landers 
Ebenezer Porter 
Saml. Harris Jr 



John Perry 
Hugh Cann 
James Mattenly 
Riehd. Patten 
Josiah Porter Jr 
Theophilus Crosby 
Alex. Bain 
Hy. Lovitt 
Benj. Harris 
Jas. Crosby 
Nathan Utley 
Lemuel Crosby 
Benj. Brown 
John Killam 
Benj. Barnard 
And. Lovitt 
Ebenezer Corning 
Rd. Williams 
Jon'n Corning Jr 
Hazadiah Porter 
Nathan Brown 



Saml. Ellen wood 
Levi Horton 
Jas. Brown 
Benj. Brown Jr 
Dudley Poi-ter 
John Cann 
Saml. S. Poole 
Jos. Pitman Jr 
Eleaz'r Butler Jr 
Eliah Eldridge 
Sealed Landers 
Pery. Hamilton 
Stephen Blaney 
Thos. Flint 
Rich'd Rose 
Waitstill Lewis 
Jon'n Corning 
Jos. Pitman 
Eben'r Corning Jr 
Saml. Foot 
Saml. Harris 



This document has been inserted as it was originally 
written, viz. : without punctuation, and with the orthogra- 
phical peculiarities retained. 

Immigration during this period was almost at a stand: 
New comers had to purchase, and possibly, better prospects 
fov farmers were to be found in other parts of the Province. 
I do not think that those who had settled here, had any 
cause of complaint. Farming was not their strong point ; 
but. still in the year 1786, Justices Benjamin Barnard and 
Samuel Sheldon Poole, made a return, in afccordance with 
the Governor's orders, to the effect that in Yarmouth Toivn- 
ship there were 161 oxen, 456 cows, 337 young cattle, and 
686 sheep, "which account," say they, "may be depended 
" on as just, we having been particular in taking the same."* 



* Records, May 16th, 1786. 



92 History of Yarmouth. 

The reader will compare this with Mr. Crawley's return of 
1764, made twenty-two years previously. 
It is plain, however, that 

NON-EESIDENT OWNERS 

not only did no good, but they did positive harm ; and it 
was felt that some steps should be taken to promote greater 
prosperity. Accordingly we find Mr. John Crawley and 
Mr. Poole swearing, in Halifax on the 27th of June, 1783, 
that 

" William Haskall, Thomas Moore, Benjamin Morgan, William Moore, 
" Stephen Gallishan, Alex. Godfrey, Samuel Allen, and Thomas Sinnot, 
" proprietors in the Township of Yarmouth, have made little or no im- 
" proveraents on their shares of lands, and that they have not been resident 
" on their said shares of land for these seven years past." 

This was but the first step in the argument ; for at the 
same time, Mr. Poole put in a word for himself and others 
by memorializing the Governor and Council, — having taken 
the precaution to have his memorial certified beforehand by 
Mr. Crawley. The document is curious and full of infor- 
fnation, direct and inferential : — 

" The memorial of Samuel Sheldon Poole, in behalf of himself and sun- 
" dry settlers in the Township of Yarmouth, sheweth, — 

" That your memorialist represents that some of the said persons have 
" been settled in said Township one and twenty years, and none less than 
" nine years, except Jesse Rice and Waitstill Lewis, who have been there 
" between four and five years. 

" That they had never had any lands granted them by Government : but 
" have made improvements on lands purchased by them in this Province. 

" That they are desirous of remaining settlers in the Province. 

" That the most of them have families and stocks as per list annexed. 

" That there are several rights or shares of lands in the Township of 
"Yarmouth, liable to forfeiture, having been deserted many years, and 
" without improvement as per list annexed. 

" That, therefore, your memorialist, in behalf as aforesaid, — Humbly 
" prayeth that the said rights of land may be escheated and regranted to 
" them in such proportions as to your Excellency and Honours shall seem 
" meet." 



History of Yarmouth. 93 

Tlie list of deserters is the same as that sworn to by Mr. 

Crawley and Mr. Barnard : and the list for whom applica^ 

tion was so ingeniously made and well put were : 

" Nathan Utley, wife and four children. 
Benj. Barnard, " " three " 
S. S. Poole, " " three 

Levi Horton, " " seven " 

Waitstill Lewis, " " two " 

Samuel Foot, " " one child. 
Jesse Eice, single, a Eefugee, and a Physician. 

Elishama Eldridge expects to marry soon, a trader, who has been in 
Yarmouth twenty years." 

There is no date to this document ; but it is bound up in 
the volume of Eecords extending from 1783-7. 

Mr. Benjamin Barnard, to whom reference is here and 
elsewhere repeatedly made, was a native of Salem, and 
a graduate of Harvard. He was a useful citizen and 
magistrate ; a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and 
Registrar of Deeds. He died in 1827, aged 74. At first, 
and for some time, all deeds were recorded at Liverpool. 
The earliest record is dated September 19th, 1768; and 
was a deed from Benjamin EUenwood to Daniel Fogler 
of Nantucket, of *'one acre of land on the north side 
"of Cape Forchue Harbour formerly laid out to John 
"Gates." 

Waitstill Lewis, the ancestor of all who bear the name 
in the County, was a Loyalist. He died in Yarmouth in 
1838, leaving a large and respectable family. 

Jesse Rice was a physician, a native of New Hampshire 
and a Loyalist, who was proscribed and banished.* 

* Mr. Rice was the first Physician in the County of whom we have any 
knowledge. As such, he was evidently regarded as a desirable settler. 
But the practice of Medicine and Surgery was not neglected by the early 



94 - History of Yarmouth. 

This application for the escheatment of unimproved and 
deserted lands bears marks of having been made just before 
the 

FINAL DIVISION AND SETTING OFF OF THE TOWNSHIP 

to the individual grantees, which was not done till 1787 ; 
in which year also the plan of the Township was made by 
Samuel Goldsbury. The mandate of partition was issued 
at Halifax on the 21st of July, 1786; and the writ is 
returned as having been complied with, dated Yarmouth, 
January the 20th, 1787. The document is somewhat 
lengthy; but important, as exhibiting the principle upon 
which the division and allotment was made. The preamble 

merchants, before the arrival of Eice ; to wit, the following selection of 
entries, made at different dates, beginning with, — 

1764. March 9. To. drawing of my boy's teuth £0 Os. 3d. 

" one oz of Anguinton 4 

" 2 oz of Parmisity 7 

" Sundre Doctters Medisons 1 6 

" Strengthining Sauf 6 

" 3 porshons of fisick @ 8d 2 

" 2 bottles of oyl true british @ Is. 6d 3 
Although twenty-fiye years elapsed before Medical practitioners settled 
in Yarmouth, we yet stand well forward in the adoption oT Vaccination 
for that terrible pestilence— Small Pox. Early in the Spring of 1802, Mr. 
Norman Bond, a Lawyer, living in Bath, Eng., and an intimate friend of 
Dr. Jenner the discoverer of the Cow Pox, sent out in a letter a small 
parcel of Vaccine Lymph to his brother Dr. J. N. Bond. He had no more 
faith in it than the rest of the world at that time had ; but to satisfy him- 
self he tried it on an infant of a few weeks old. It succeeded ; and to 
further test its eiEcacy, he inoculated the child with Small Pox, which, of 
course, was powerless. The infant has since grown to manhood and old 
age ; and has been vei-y frequently exposed to Small Pox in its most malig- 
nant forms, and he is now the oldest living Medical Gentleman in this 
County. He certainly was the first vaccinated in Yarmouth ; possibly the 
first in Nova Scotia, and among the first on this Continent. I ven- 
ture to hope that th^ obvious lesson taught by this narrative — the value 
of vaccination — may be practically recognized by every member of the 
community. 



History of Yarmouth. 95 

gets forth to the Sheriff of Shelburne County, as it then 

was, his duty to 

" call together the proprietors," whose names all follow, " of the said 
" Township of Yarmouth, to be summoned by you, by giving forty days 
" notice to the aforesaid persons if they wiU be present, and in the presence 
" of two of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, that you do assign in 
"severalty the shares or proportions of the said lands actually occupied or 
" improved to all such proprietors who have occupied or improved the same 
"by the oaths of twelve lawful men of the said Coi.mty ; and that you also 
" cause the improved lands in the said Township to be divided resfect. being 
"had to the value of the said lands and tenements with their appurtenances 
" and to our several G-rant or Grants to the several parties aforesaid to he 
" divided hy ballot agreeable to the purport and meaning of their respective 
" titles and pursuant to the laws of our Province of Nova Scotia aforesaid, 
'.' in that case made and provided, and to be alloted and set out to each and 
" every the parties aforesaid his^ her^ or their true parts or proportions of 
" tke said lands, tenements and appurtenances as aforesaid, to hold to them 
" and their respective heirs severally, to be by you delivered and assigned 
"so that aU and eveiy the parties above said receive and have a just and 

" proportionable quantity of the said lands and 

" make due return of this writ to the Justices of our Supreme Court at 
" Halifax." 

All was done accordingly; the twelve men, as disin- 
terested parties living out of the Township, were chosen 
from Argyle and Barrington, and the whole was certified 
by Elishama Eldridge Deputy Sheriff/ J. Homer, and John 
Coffin, Justices. The italicised words are mine, — being 
intended to draw attention to the governing ideas of the 
partition. Several parties — ameng them Mr. Poole, — 
were included in the list of Proprietors, who were certainly 
not Grantees. But Mr. Poole's petition, before detailed, 
supplies the explanation. 

We have already referred, at some length, to the escheat- 
ment of certain lands, on the ground of desertion or non- 
residence, between 1767 and 1787. Similarly, by order of 



B6 History of Yarmouth. 

the Supreme Court, in 1797, ten j'ears after the partition 
of the Township, an escheatment of 

" sundry lots of land belonging to sundry persons respectively in arrears 
" in payment of their shares and proportion of the expense of executing 
" the partition," 

was made. The names of the delinquents, fifteen in num- 
ber, are those of families who are now, for the more part, 
of little note : whilst those of the purchasers must be 
identified, in the main, with the gradual prosperity of the 
Township. All this is reasonable ; for men who after ten 
years were unable or unwilling to pay the expenses incurred 
in laying out their lands, would hardly be likely to make 
Very good or very active use of the land itself. 



CHAPTEE Xm. 

COMMERCIAL PROGRESS. FISHING. EARLY LOCAL MERCHANTS, 

YARMOUTH MADE A PORT OF SHELBURNE. J. N. BOND, 

RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION, HENRY ALLINE, JONATHAN 

SCOTT. HARRIS HARDING, RELIGIOUS CENSUS. 

ORIGINAL HOMES AND FIRST LOCATIONS 

OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. 

I'OK the more part, the original settlers in this County 
were not, as in other Counties, farmers. They were 
rather traders and fishermen; who filled up their spare 
time, as many do yet, with a little farming. Whatever 
tended to promote the extension of their 

MARITIME INTEEESTg, 

was then, as it is now, looked on as of paramount impor- 
tance. One little schooner of twenty-five tons, named the 
"Pompey," represented the Yarmouth shipping list of 
1761. The second year probably served to treble it. We 
know that Captain George Eing and Ephraim Cook were 
then concerned together in fishing vessels : and about the 
same time Captain Seth Barnes had one schooner, the 
"Elizabeth;" and shortly afterwards two, — the "Eliza- 
beth" and the " Polly." In the year 1764, Walter Sollows 
built the first vessel that was launched in the County — od 
Fish Point in Cape Forchue Harbour. Without doubt 
those vessels were exclusively engaged in fishing, and in 



98 History of Yarmouth. 

carrying the surplus produce to tlie New England markets.* 
There were fishing stands at Cook's beach in 1760 and 
1761 ; at Fish Point in 1762 ; at Pubnico in the same 
year ; and more than once we have instances of grants of 
land, suitable for such purposes, f having been made. 
About thirty years after the settlement of Yarmouth, there 
were about twenty-five vessels belonging to the Township, 
with an aggregate of 550, or an average of twenty-two tons. 
The first vessel which was lost, belonging to this Township, 
was the " Sally," in the year 1777, owned and commanded 
by Captain John Barnard. All hands were lost. The 
next was the " James," owned by James Allen, and com- 
manded by Captain Joseph Allen. She was lost off Sambro 
Light. Four years after, two other vessels were wrecked, 
strange to say all hands lost ; making an ominous begin- 
ning in the first twenty years of four losses, in three of 
which every soul perished. As the number owned has 
increased, accidents have become necessarily, from, various 
causes, painfully frequent. 

Besides the shipping, or rather the fishing and trading 

detailed, there were the 

^^ # 

* Considerable visiting intercourse with their New England friends was 
kept up by the first settlers. This was easily done by using the fishing 
schooners on their carrying freight to Boston, or on their return Toyage 
with necessary supplies. Old Ledgers contain such entries as these : — 

To your Dafters pasig to Boston £0 5s. Od. 

" frait up and down 5 

" your pasig up and down to Newingland 10 

" your wife and pasig of 3 children @ 7s. 6d... 1 10 

" your wife's and child's pasig down 10 

t E. G. To Mr. Ingols at Pubnico, on May 1, 1762. 
" " John Eussel at Yarmouth, on Jidy 5, 1775. 
And " Philip and James Goudey, on the 20th of June, 1775. 



History of Yarmouth.. 99 

EAELY LOCAL MEECHANTS, 

whose business transactions are of older date, and larger 
amounts, than might have been supposed. It may sound 
a little paradoxical to say that a Ledger exists with items 
entered in it, which were sold here before any settlers 
arrived. The explanation lies in the fact, already illustrated 
in Ephraim Cooke, that the men who frequented these 
shores for fishing purposes did their season's work, and 
then returned home. Some of the items, both as to cost 
and kind, to say nothing of the orthography, are not a little 
puzzling and amusing. I have here appended a few on 
different industries : — 

The labour market stood thus, for example — 

1762. Aug. 12. Three day's laber self and printis @ 6/8 £\ Os, Od. 

1763. May 9. 1 Days laber for self & oxen 4 

" Nov. 30. 1 days work by self..., 2 6 

1774. March 16. 3 Days with self & oxen @ 3/3 10 2 

" Not. 29. IJ days work by thrashing of grane... 3 6 

■ 1779. March 15. 7^ days carphendering @ 3/ per day... 12 6 

1766. May 20. Shearing of 16 sheep 1 6 

" Aug. 7. Moing 1 day and better 3 

1764. Sept. 27. 2^ days laber stacking of hay 5 

Carpenters, mowers, and stackers of hay, would consider 
this rather serious wages. Those of sailors and fishermen 
are still more suggestive. Thus, for instance : — 

1763. April 4. Shipt him for 6 dolers per month to Boston, 

1764. May 6. Shipt on board schoner at 30/ pr month. 

1766. Aug. 11. Kechingof 1300 of fish groos, @ £3 6s. 8d pr M £4 6s. 8d. 

■It does not appear that the prices of provisions, groceries, 
if we except tea and the like, varied much from what they 
now are ; but, when compared with the rate of wages, they 
were very high. For instance : — 

Flour perlb £0 Os. 4d. Fish V quintal 10/ to 15/ 

Butter " lOd. Tea "lb 5/ to 7/ 

Potatoes per bushel 2/ to 4/ Beef " lb (salt) 4d. 



100 History of Yarmouth, 

The FuE business was, in the early days of the settle- 
ment, of considerable importance and extent. The follow- 
ing list, made up from a variety of sources, shows at a 
glance, both the kinds of animals abounding and the value 
of their skins, about the year 1764 : — 

Beaver, (" Sever ") 5/ to 6/ ^ &. 

Moose, ("Mos") 5/ to 6/3 each. 

Bear, ("Bare") 5/, 

Seal, ("Sile")5/. 

Otter, (" Oter") 5/ to 6/. 
Fox, 2/6 to 3/3. 

Sable, ("Sabel") 2/6. 
Loup Cervier, (" Wile Gate"?) 2/6 to 3/. 

Mink, ("Monkes") l/tol/3d. 

Mmsquash, ("Muskwosh") 3d. to 4d. 

Entries of such articles sss the following, for which we 
should certainly ask in vain in our most complete Dry 
Goods establishments, are not at all uncommon : — 

1762. Aug. 17. 7 yds. Garlick @ 3/6 £1 4s. 6d. 

1764. Nov. 19. 1 yd. of padasway ribin 1 

1765. May 25. 2| yds. of blew stroud @ 12/6 1 11 S 

" " 26. 3 yds. ofLunnonshurlond@2/.... 6 

" Junel7. 1 yd. ofEatten 9 

1770. May 24. 1 Black Basalone hanchif 5 7 

1771. April 6. 4 yards of Duffel 1 2 

And, if it fell out that, in the transaction of their busi- 
ness, those old gentlemen of a hundred years agone had 
some variance, they had a happy way of settling their dif- 
ferences, as the two following instances will show : — 

1764. Aug. 24. For peas sake for skins that was laust £\ 3s. 6d. 

And again : — 

1764. Nov. 15. Credeat for peas sake and past resaits 

in ivl\ for ever £0 7s. 4d, 

This, to say the least, looked like an honest endeavour 
to obey the Apostolic maxim to "live peaceably with all 
men." The ruling passion for gain, however, was in at 



History of Yarmouth. 101 

least one case, irresistible ; for, on the very next folio, a 
fresh account was hopefully opened. Scarcely less enter- 
taining are the two following items, illustrative of business 
terms used in settlements of accounts : — 

"Jan. 11, 1775 this day recond and setteld all book aecompts from the 
*' begining of the world to this day with C D. witness our hands — A. B. 
" and C. D," 

And again : — 

"Feb. 12, 1778. This day recond and setteld all aecompts from the 
" beginning of the world to this day with C. D. — and there is due to him 
" one pound one shilling. Witness my hand — A. B." 

There is very little, if anything, to show what the imports 
or exports of the County during the first thirty years 
amounted to. The first Collector in Yarmouth was Mr. 
John Crawley; but as early as 1766, "Lieutenant Eanald 
*' McKinnon was appointed Collector for the Impost, Ex- 
*' cise, and License duties for the Townships of Barrington 
" and Yarmouth in the room of John Crawley resigned."* 
I have not been able to ascertain whether he or Mr. Craw- 
ley ever made any return. In 1787, when Yarmouth was 
made a Port of Entry, Joseph Norman Bond, then residing 
in Shelburne, was made Deputy Collector ; and about this 
time there are a few slight traces of duties. This gentle- 
man, the father of our much respected citizen Dr. Joseph 
B. Bond, was a native of Neston, Cheshire, England ; and 
was educated in London for the Medical profession. He 
was Assistant Surgeon in the British Army, and was among 
those who were under the command of Cornwallis, when 
that general surrendered his army of 7000 at York Town 
to "Washington. He attended the prisoners taken under 

* Council Minutes, November 8, 1766, 



102 History of Yarmouth. 

Burgoyne and. Cornwallis, from Lancaster to New York. 
He held many public offices, besides discharging his pro- 
fessional duties. At first he was Deputy, and afterwards 
in 1806, Custom House officer. He held a commission as 
Justice of the Peace ; and as Colonel of Militia. In 1803, 
he was made Surveyor of Vessels, his certificate entitling 
the holders ' of them to a certificate in Halifax. He was 
frequently intrusted by the Government with the discharge 
of public duties, and the execution of important public 
works. He was the pioneer of the Loyalists, I believe, as 
well as the first member of the Church of England, who 
settled in Yarmouth. He is allowed to have been a man of 
very considerable character, with great firmness and deter- 
mination. 

During the period we are now tracing, a visit was made 
to Yarmouth by an itinerant preacher, Henry Alline, which 
deserves careful notice, on account of the extensive subse- 
quent results which followed, from a religious denomina- 
tional point of view, amounting almost to a 

RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION. 

It is only repeating words to say that, as with scarcely an 
exception, the early inhabitants of Chebogue, Cape Forchue 
and Argyle, were from New England, and that they were 
adherents of that form of faith which prevailed throughout 
the New England States. But it is also plain, from various 
considerations, that the lines between the Congregational 
and Presbyterian systems were not very sharply defined. 
The constant use of the phrase ''Congregational or Prcsby- 
terian,^' in which, two words of very different signification 



History of Yarmouth. 103 

are used as if tliey had the same meaning, is evidence to 
the point. It was probably as convenient for the necessities 
of the settlers then, as it might be for the good feeling and 
harmony of the community noiv, not to enquire too nar- 
rowly, or define too closely. 

The first who ministered to the Church at Chebogue, 
was Mr. John Frost. He was ordained by the laymen of 
his Church, — without the help or -intervention, as in Pres- 
byterian ordination, of any Session or Presbytery. Mr. 
Frost did not serve the congregation more than seven 
months after he was ordained. The next minister was the 
Eev. Jonathan Scott. He came to Yarmouth in 1767. 
He preached his first sermon in 1768; but he was not 
ordained until 1772. The first gathering of the church at 
Chebogue had taken place on December 18th, 1767.* 
Mr. Scott continued to minister, we have every reason to 
believe, acceptably to his people, who had hitherto support- 
ed him unanimously, to the best of their ability. They 
assisted him in building his house, which is now the oldest 
house as well as the oldest parsonage in the County, and 
otherwise maintained him. And so he continued for fifteen 
years. At the end of that time, 

HENEY ALLINB, 

who, as before said, was an itinerant preacher of the body 
then lately organized, and known as "New Lights," visited 
Yarmouth. He was a native of Rhode Island : and must 
evidently have been a man able, at least, to rouse the 
people, and alter existing institutions. He published his 
views in a volume printed in Halifax in 1781, in which he 

* Congregational Church Book. 



104 History of Yarmouth. 

set forth, doctrines which no sane person could now be 
found to believe or defend. He disregarded upon principle, 
all order or discipline in the Church, defending his right 
to a roving commission ; despised the sacraments ; organ- 
ized Churches before he had any kind of commission or 
authority ; and, in the language of a favourable biographer, 
** he was more fitted for destruction than for construction : " 
and that "he did not go to Heaven too soon."* His 
journal informs us that he made three visits to Yarmouth ; 
the first, extending from the 18th to the 26th of October, 
1781 ; the second from the 7th to the 19th of February, 
1782 ; and the third and last, from the 5th to the 17th of 
October of the same year. Short visits ; but pregnant with 
results. The immediate effects of those visits, arising out 
of his intruding himself into Mr. Scott's Cure, and the 
consequent altercations between them, were, that long 
friendships were rudely snapped ; the bitterest animosities 
engendered ; the old Eeligious Society dismembered, whilst 
a new one, holding Mr. Alline's views, was built on its 
ruins ; and the old and settled Pastor of 20 years practically 
discarded. He left Chebogue finally on November 21st, 
1793, for the Pastorate of Barkerstown (now Minot) in 
the State of Maine; where he laboured till he died, in 
1819. The house which Mr. Scott built as a Parsonage 
still stands in very nearly its original condition, on the farm 
of the late John Cook, son of Ephraim, at Little Eiver. 
It was an unusually good house in its time, built of hewn 
logs, once nobly clapboarded ; with a huge fireplace, in the 
side of which is a brick oven. Having been built in 1766-7, 

* Life and Times of Harris Harding, p. 47. 



History of Yarmouth. 105 

it is, as before said, at once the oldest house, and the oldest 
Parsonage in the County. During the disturbance, in the 
year 1784, about three years after Mr. AlKne's first visit, 
Mr. Scott wrote a defence of his position. It might have 
been all very true, and unanswerable ; but it did not bring 
back old friends. The work of estrangement had been too 
well done. I here append, as literary curiosities, the titles 
of the books written respectively by Mr. AUine and Mr. 
Scott. They are volumes of about 340 pages ; and have 
become very rare : — 
Title of Allen's book : 

Two Mites 

on 

Some of the most important and much disputed points of 

Divinity 

Cast into the Treasury for the Welfare of the Poor and Needy, and 

committed to the perusal of the unprejudiced and impartial 

Reader ; 

BY 

Henry Alline, 

Servant of the Lord to his 

Churches. 

Halifax printed by A. Henry 1781. 

Title of Mr. Scott's book : 

A 

Brief View 

of the 

Religious Tenets and Sentiments lately published and spread in the 

Province of Nova Scotia, which are contained in a Book, 

entitled " Two Mites, on some of the most important 

and much disputed points 

of Divinity, &c." 

In a Sermon preached at Liverpool 

Nov. 19, 1782. 

And in a Pamphlet, entitled 

" The Antitraditionist." 

all being published of 

Mr. Henry Alline, 

with 

Some brief reflections and observations. 

Also 

A View of the Ordination of the Author of these Books. 

Together with 

A Discourse on external Order. 

By Jonathan Scott. " 
Pastor of a Church in Yarmouth. 



106 History of Yarmouth. 

The views, if such they can be called, which were advanced 
by Mr. AUine, gradually gained a footing. They were at 
first wild and repelling, yet singularly fascinating to all 
who hailed the rise of an unrestrained and ungoverned 
kind of system which gave the widest liberty of speech and 
the greatest diversity of practice, as distinct from the Con- 
gregationalism which had hitherto been prevalent. The 
more repugnant elements of his creed however, were, in 
the main, rejected; and those who became attached to a 
new system through his agency, gradually toned down into 
the now moderate and very widely spread Christian body 
of Calvinist Baptists, which is the largest religious deno- 
mination in the County. Under the fostering care and 
unwearied zeal of 

THE EEV. HAREIS HARDING, 

who was not afraid to describe himself as a New Light, 
congregations were soon gathered together in different parts 
of the County. Mr. Harding paid his first visit to Yar- 
mouth in the year 1790 ; and here, with slight intervals, 
he continued to labour and to live, until his death in 1854. 
He was born in Horton in 1761, the same year that Yar- 
mouth was settled. His parents were Episcopalians ; but 
in early life when thinking about religion he vibrated, for 
some time, between the Methodists and the New Lights ; 
and finally he connected himself with the latter. 

His lot was cast in times when the state of the Society 
with which he was connected precluded theological consis- 
tency; and his biographer, — the late Rev. John Davis — 
has detailed as matters of interest, the several changes and 
modifications which Mr. Harding's religious opinions and 



History of Yarmouth. . 107 

practices underwent, as years rolled on. Circumstances 
and facts are thus preserved, the record of which would 
have been out of place as regards any private person ; but 
which are noteworthy in Mr. Harding's case, inasmuch as 
they are intimately bound up with the public history of half 
a century of religious opinion in this County. In early 
life he held in very moderate estimation all kinds of human 
learning, which he viewed as an interference with the Spirit. 
But there are traces of modification of this opinion in his 
later years.* Similarly, on the doctrine of laftism, his 
views from time to time underwent very considerable 
changes. Whilst he was in Horton, before coming to 
Yarmouth, he baptized, by sprinkling, men, women, and 
children. Baptism by immersion he severely described as 
a device of Satan, t But after he had ministered in Yar- 
mouth about fifteen years, he was himself baptized, by 
immersion, at Milton ; X though, in later life, he appears 
to have held the opinion that baptism was unnecessary, if 
any one had the spirit. For more than thirty years, he 
opposed Close Communion. ^ But during that time the 
prevailing popular view changed ; and, at length, in 1828, 
he and his church went into union with the Nova Scotia 
Baptist Association. Notwithstanding, even to the close of 
his life, " he advocated the Open Communion theory, both 
"in public and private." ||- In his younger days he was 
slight ; but in later years he became very corpulent. He 
died in 1854 at the advanced age of 93, leaving behind him 
a large family and very numerous and attached adherents. 
He exercised great influence in his life time, which, to a 

*LiFE AND Times : pp. 134, 5. tpp. 70, 71,. 74. tp. 75. §p. 115. Up. 116. 



i08 ^ History of Yarmouth. 

large extent, still continues. He was very zealous and 
unwearied in his labours, not sparing himself even in ex- 
treme old age. A monument of a partially public charac- 
ter was erected in his memory ; and although of a some- 
what wordy nature, I have inserted the inscription in these 
pages : — 

" In Memory of the Eey. HARRIS HARDING : born Oct. 10, 1761 ; 
died, March 7, 1854. 

" For nearly Seventy Years, Sixty of which were spent in this Neighbour- 
hood, he proclaimed the Grospel which he lored, with unwearied dili- 
gence, and extraordinary success. 

" ' And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma- 
ment: AND THEY THAT TURN MANY TO RIGHTEOUSNESS AS THE STARS FOR 
EVER AND EVER.' DaN. 12. 3. 

" Mr. Harding first visited Yarmouth in 1790. In 1797 he came hither to 
labour statedly in the Gospel. 

" In 1827 he and his Church, the members of which resided in all parts of 
this County, united with the Nova Scotia Baptist Association. At his 
death he was the senior Pastor of the first and Second Yarmouth Bap- 
tist Churches. 

" This Monument is erected by the inhabitants of Yarmouth and its vicin- 
ity, and by the members of the various Churches which participated 
in the labours of the departed, as a testimony to the worth of the Man, 
and graces of the Christian, and the usefulness of the Preacher."* 

The following list comprises the names of all the Pastors 
of the First Baptist Church down to, and including the 
present incumbent : — 

Rev. Harris Harding. 
" William Burton. 
" John Davis, A. M. 
" Henry Angell. 
" A. H. Munro. 
'' G-eo. E. Day, M. D. 

■* I am indebted for these leading facts and traits to " The Life and 
Times of Harris Harding, by the Rev. John Davis " : a book which I beg 
to commend to the careful perusal of all who are interested in the religious 
history of the County. 




f EMPLE {Church. 

BAPTIST. 



History of Yarmouth. 



109 



The number, as well as tte comparative lateness of suc- 
cessive Baptist Churclies, preclude at once the propriety 
and the necessity for extending this list. But the reader 
is here presented with a view of the Temple Church, and 
to which reference* is made further on. 



Whilst speaking on this topic, I think it not improper 


to append the numbers attached to the several Keligious 


Denominations at the last census (1871) ; modifications of 


which have taken place ; and allowance for which must be 


made by the reader : — 




Baptists . . . . 


6225 


Eoman Catholics 


5301 


Free Baptists . . 


3671 


Wesleyan .... 


1012 


Church of England . 


908 


Presbyterians . . 


592 


Congregationalists . 


407 


Adventists . . 


41 


Methodists . . 


20 


Protestants . . 


14 


Quakers . . . 


12 


Episcopal Methodist 


s 9 


Mormons . . . 


2 


Universalists . . 


2 


Lutheran . . . 


1 


Unitarian . . . 


1 


Without Creed . 


17 


Not given . . . 


. 315 



18,550 
And all these are in possession of 104 buildings, of which 
48 are places of worship. 



110 History of Yarmouth, 

I am not ignorant that Appendices are very seldom read, 
and yet, they often conta,in the very pith and marrow of a 
matter. It is with the hope and belief that the following 
list of early settlers of Cape Forchue and Cheboguej will 
be as carefully read as the information it contains is inter- 
esting, that it is here inserted. It is the result of many a 
long journey ; and, if possible, of still longer conversations. 
It contains a kind of information as curious as it was diffi- 
cult to get at ; and, as a contribution to the early history 
of Yarmouth, its worth is scarcely to be exceeded. Some 
idea of the difficulty of obtaining the information here col- 
lected will be realized by any one who is curious enough 
to try to fill up a blank space, or make a trustworthy cor^ 
rection. 

The list supplies the date of arrival, the name, the place 
where from, and the first residence of all the early settlers 
of Cape Forchue and Chebogue, who have left their names 
or their memory behind them, up till the end of the last 
century; or, for the first forty years. By memory is meant, 
for example. Bunker's Island, a trace — the only one — of 
Hezekiah Bunker. Much personal enquiry, and the exami- 
nation of every document which could throw any light upon 
the subject, have been resorted to in compiling this list. 
Still, perfection is not claimed for it. In some cases, 
these early settlers are known to have made removals ; 
but the first spot pitched upon is the one which is here 
intended : — 



History of Yarmouth. 



Ill 




Where From. 



Where Settled^ 



Jeremiak Allen 

John Allen 

Joseph Allen.... 



Seth Bai'nes. 

Eleazer Butler 

Benjamin Brown.. 
Jonathan Baker.. 



Josiah Beal 

George Bridgeo. 

Benj. Barnard... 

Samuel Baker... 
Alex. Bain 

James Brown ... 



Joseph Bent 

Lemuel Bartlett. 

Hezeki'h Bunker. 
David Beveridge. 
Joseph N. Bond. 

Jonathan Crosby. 
Ephraim Cooke.. 
John Crawley.... 



James Cain 

William Coffran... 
Lemuel Churchill 

Ebenezer Corning 
Edward Crosby . . . 
Daniel Crocker ... 



Manchester, Mass.. 

Marble Head 

Argyle.N, S 



Marble Head and / 

Plymouth \ 

Saybrook & Ashford 

Beverly, Mass 

Marble Head 



New England \ 

British Navy 

Salem, Mass i 

Ashford, Conn 

Scotland* 



Ipswich 

Plymouth 

Marble Head. 

Nantucket 



Scotland & Shel- 
burne 

England & Shel- . 
burne \ 

Saybrook & Mans- ' 
field 1 

Kingston I 

England & Mar 
ble Head 

England and New / 
England \ 

Marble Head 

Plymouth 



Beverly, Mass 
Argyle, N. S... 



Nearly opposite George 

Allen's, at Cove 
Shurtleff s Point, Eockvilla 
Lyman Allen's, Melbourne 

Dennis Weston's Landing, 

Chebogue 
Butler's Hill 
J. K. Ryerson's Wharf 
Chas. Eichan's, Sunday Pt 
Beal's Island, Chebogue 

Harbour 
Bridgeo's Creek, Arcadia 
Fish Point, — then Kinney 

& Haley's Factory 
NW. part of Sunday Point 
Milton 
Opposite David Rose's, 

Chegoggin 
Cove Road 

Ring's Point, Melbourne 
NW. Point of Bunker's 

Island 

Jacob Utley's 

Gilbert Allen's, Cove Road 



Crocker's Point, Chebogue 

Cooke's Beach, Chebogue 
Harbour 

Crawley's Island " " 

Seth Cain's, Chebogue 

John Pinkney's Farm " 
Churchill's Landing " 

Joseph Jeffrey's, Overton 
Broad Brook, Cove 
Crocker's Point, Chebogue 



* There is a romantic interest attached to the early history of Alex. Bain, 
or, more properly, McBain. His family emigrated from Scotland about the 
year 1761-2 ; and the vessel in which they came, was lost somewhere near 
St. John. His father, mother, and sister were lost ; while he, a child of 
eight, escaped, by clambering along a fallen mast. He was brought to 
Yarmouth in 1762, by John McKinnon, on Chebogue Point, who also 
brought him up. 



112 



History of Yarmouth. 



t 
*-* 

PS 


Name. 


Where From. 


Were Settled, 


1766 
1769 


Ebenezer Clarke... 
John Clements 


Ipswich 

Marble Head • 


Bunker's Island 
Clement's Island, Che- 
bogue Harbor 


1777 
1777 
1777 
1784 
1782 
1782 

1763 
1762 
1776 

1785 

1776 
1789 


Lemuel Crosby 

Theophilus Crosby 

James Crosby 

Ephraim Churchill 
Hugh B. Cann 


Yarmouth, Mass ... 

K II 

Plymouth " 

Marble Head 


Parade 

Ryerson's Block 

J. B. Bond's 

Opposite Murphy's Bridge 

Thos. D. Chipman's Brook 

Stephen Rose's, Overton 

Durkee's Lane, Durkee's 

Hill 
Town Point, Chebogue 
Crawley's J., then near 

Mrs. Amos Dennis 

Rockville 

SW Pt. of Fletcher's Head 


PhinehasDurkee... 

Ben j. Darling 

Ambi-ose Dennis... 

Jonat'n Dunham... 

Sam'l Doty 

Thomas Dane 


Saybrook or f 

Brimfield [ 

Hew England 

Marble Head ■ 

England & Shel- / 
burne \ 


Ipswich, Mass 


Jos. Burrill's Corner 


1761 
1761 

1765 


Ebenezer Ellis 

Elishama Eldridge 

Nath'lElwell 


Sandwich, Cape Cod 
New England 

Beverly, Mass 


Chebogue Point 
Fish Point 

Bunker's Island, then Cove 
Road 


1766 
1766 


Samuel Ellenwood 
Barna'sEldridge.. 


Salem, Mass 

New England ...\ 


Near Sand-beach 
Mrs. Daniel Smith's, Cove 
Road 


1785 


Joseph Ellis 


Barnstable, Cape f 
Cod 1 


Near Dennis Weston's, 
Chebogue 


1769 


Zachariah Foote... 


Beverly, Mass ... \ 


South of Stephen Rose, 
Overton 


1771 


Thomas Flint 


Marble Head 


N. side of Levitt's Wharf 


1762 
1766 
1766 
1775 


Patrick Q-owen 

James Gellfellan . . . 
Stephen Gallishan 
Philip Q-oudey 


Skatawa (?) River... 
Londonderry, f 

Ireland \ 

New Brunswick 

Marble Head | 


Gowen's Point, Chebogue 
Gellfellan's Island near 

Bunker's 
Fish Point 
In field below Aaron 

Goudey's 


1798 
1775 


BartlettGardner... 
James Goudey 


Nantucket and J 

Barrington [ 

Marble Head 


Vickery's Corner, Arcadia 
North of Aaron Goudey's 


1762 


Ebenezer Haley ... 


Plymouth or f 
Marble Head... \ 


ShurtlefTs Point, Rockville 


1762 
1763 
1763 


Peleg Holmes 

Samuel Harris 

Wm. Haskill 


Plymouth, and f 

Kingston \ 

Beverly, Mass 

Beverly, " | 


Holmes Land'g, Chebogue 

0pp. Killam's Shipyard 
Sanderson's Tannery, N. 
side of Brook. 



History of Yarmouth. 



113 




Eleazer Hibbard. . . 

David Hersey 

Levi Horton >. 

Amos Hilton....... 

Wm. Hammond... 

Jonathan Horton.. 

Harris Harding ... 
Philip Hemeon.... 

Wm. Huestis 

Pereg'ne Hamilton 
Miner Huntington 

James Jenkins 

John Jenkins 

Wm. Jenkins 

James Kelley 

John KiUam 

Nathan itinney .... 

Sealed Landers 

Andrew Lovitt.... 

Waitstill Lewis ... 

John McKinnon.,. 
James Mattenly . . . 
John Magray 

John McKinnie . . . 
Sam'l Marshall. .... 

Wm. Moses 

David McConnelL. 
I 



Where From. 



Connecticut 

Plymouth, Mass 

Connecticut 

Manchester, Mass \ 

Halifax, N. S 

New York and / 
Shelburne \ 

Horton, N.S | 

Hamington, N. J . . . 

Statenlsland, N.J | 

Virginia 

Windham, Conn j 

New York and f 
Weymouth ... \ 

New York and f 
Weymouth ... \ 

New York and f 
Weymouth ... \ 



Manchester, Mass \ 

Wenham \ 

New Bedford and f 
Barrington ... [ 

Sandwich, Cape Cod 

Beverly, Mass 

Rhode Island and f 
Hahfax \ 

Highlands of 

Scotland 

Beverly, Mass , 

Marble Head | 

British Navy 

New York and 
Shelburne 

England and f 

Shelburne [ 

Statenlsland, N.J 



Where Settled. 



Hibbard's Corner 

Chebogue Point 

Salem 

N. end Hilton's point at 

the Cove 
Big Tusket Island 

W. side Little Eiver 

Near D. Weston's, Che- 



Jos. Kinney's, Arcadia 

Dennis Weston's, Che- 
bogue 

Murphy's Bridge 

Chebogue, then Chegog- 
gin, then Milton 



Eailroad OiBces 

South corner of Main 
and Parade Streets 

0pp. late Sheriff Shaw's 



Foot of lane on shore of 

the Cove 
Lovitt's Gate, then Che- 

goggin _ 
Ring's Point, Chebogue 

Harbour 

C. E. Brown's Garden 
Late Israel Lovitt'g 

B. EUenwood's Tan Yard 



R. McKinnon's Landing, 

Rockville 
Stephen Rose's, Overton 
Big Tusket (or Magray's) 

Island 
Foot Thos. Brown's Hill, 

Chegoggin 
0pp. old Episcopal 

Church 

HughCanh's, Milton Hill 

At Elkanah Clements, 
Chebogu^ 



114 



History of Yarmouth. 



1761 
1762 

1764 

1767 
1764 
1770 

1769 

1774 

1783 
1775 
1777 
1773 

1762 
1762 

1762 

1762 

1762 
1762 
1765 
1765 

1772 
1784 

1789 



1762 
1763 
1763 

1765 

1764 

1779 

1784 

1792 
1793 

1781 

1781 
1794 




Moses Perry 

Joseph Pitman . . . 

John Perry 

Nehemiah Porter 

David Pearl 

Eichard Patten ... 

Hezediah Porter. . . 

Sam'l S.Poole 

Josiah Porter 

Nehemiah Patch .. 

John Pinkney 

John T. Phillips... 

George Eing 

Jahez Eobinson ... 

Cornelius Eogers ,. 

Benj. Eobbins 

James Eobbins . . . 
John Eichardson .. 

Eichard Eose 

Benj. Eedding 

Daniel Eaymond .. 
Eobert Eobertson 

John Eichan 

Joseph Sanders . . 

Moses Scott 

David Scott 

Jonathan Scott .... 

John Sollows 

Henry Shurtleff . . . 

Tristram Studley .. 

Enoch Stanwood... 
Levi Scovill 

Jonat'n Strickland 

Chris'er Strickland 
Zebina Shaw 



Where From. 



Sandwich, Cape Cod 
Beverly, Mass 

Beverly, " ... \ 

Ashfield and Ips- f 

wich. Mass \ 

Saybrook, Conn 

Marble Head . 

Ashfield, Mass ... | 

Connecticut or 
Eeading, Mass 

Lexington 

Ashfield, Mass.... 
New York State. 
Marble Head 

Kingston, Mass.. 
Martha's Vine- 
yard, Mass 

Kingstou, Mass... | 

Plympton,Mass.., \ 

Plympton, Mass 

Windham, Conn.... 

Beverly, Mass 

Beverly, Mass , 

New England 

Holland (Hessian) 
Navy and Orkney f 
Islands \ 

Haverhill & Salem., 

Fitchburg, Mass 

Fitchburg " ...., 

Fitchburgj " .. j 

Beverly, " 

Argyle, N. S 

England and New / 

England [ 

M't Desert, Maine., 
Horton, N. S 

Weymouth 

Weymouth 

Annapolis 



Where Settled. 



Shurtlefi"s Point, Eockville 

Fish Point 

Capt. Geo. Baker's, Cove 
Eoad 

Burrill & Johnson's Ma- 
chine Shop 

Mouth of Broad Brook 

Patten's Hill, W. of first 
Pond 

Geo. Eose's, W. of Salt 
Pond 

Near D. Weston's, Che- 
bogue 

Overton 

Capt. Geo. Tooker's 

Pinkney's Point 

Kelley's Cove 



Eing's Creek, Melbourne 
West side of Little Eiver 

David Landers, Senr., 
Chebogue 

Near L. Eobbins, Che- 
bogue Point 

Edmund Dennis, Eockville 

Eockville 

Chas. looker's farm hous© 

On Parade 

Crocker's Point, Chebogue 

Cranberry Head 

Capt. Geo. Tooker's 

Elisha Trefry's, Arcadia 
Scott's Island 
Chebogue 

Late John Cooke's, Mel- 
bourne 
0pp. KiUam's Shipyard 
John Crawley's farm 

Cape Forchue 

Above Fish Point 
Israel Allen, Pembroke 
Session Hill, N. of meeting 

house 
C. E. Brown's Garden 
Pitman's, Head Salt Pond 



History of Yarmouth. 



115" 



1795 
1784 

1762 
1765 
1766 
1785 
1785 
1785 
1790 

1762 

1773 
1795 

1764 
1767 
1770 

1771 



Name. 



Joseph Shaw 

Patrick Sullivan ... 

Edward Tinkham 

Blias Trask 

Joshua P. Trefry.. 
Jacob Tedford .... 

Sam'l Tedford 

Robert Thurston .. 
Jacob Tooker 



Jonathan Utley . . . 

Moses Vickery 

Q-ab'l Van Norden 



John Walker 

Nathan Weston . . . 
Richard Williams 

Ephraim Wyman 



Where Fkosi. 



Annapolis. 
Ireland'. . . . 



Marble Head. 



{ 

Plymouth, Mass.. | 

Marble Head | 

New York and f 

Shelburne [ 

New York and 

Shelburne 

British army and f 

Shelburne \ 

N. Jersey, Shel- f 

burne, Tusket .. \ 

Hampton, Conn 



Marble Head... 

New York and 

Shelburne..., 



Newburyport ..... 

Plympton, Mass., 
Wales and New 
England 

Woburn, Mass.... 



Where Settled. 



David Rose's, Chegoggin 
0pp. Jno. Hibbert's Sand 
Beach 

Tinkham's Island, Che- 

bogue Harbour 
S. of Late Sam'l Trask, 

Chebogue 
N. of Chandler Robbins, 

Chebogue Point 

I Second Pond 
0pp. Isaac Morehouse's 
Near Steph. Churchill 
Chas. Tooker's farm 

At Brook, C. Tooker's farm 

Shurtleff's Point, Rockville 
R. Symonds, Arcadia 

Gardner's Boat Shop, 

Milton 
A. Andrews, Melbourne 

Lyman Cann's, Chegoggin 

0pp. A. M. Hatfield's, 
Wyman's Road 



This list has been confined to the Township of Yar- 
mouth, and although carried on only till the end of the 
eighteenth century, I think it right to append the follow- 
ing names, (arrivals during the first few years of the 
present century,) several of whom have left their impress 
deeply on the County : — • 

Job Smith, Robert Huston, Zachariah Chipman, 

Benj. Ellis, John Brown, James Murphy, 

Eliphalet Curry, Henry G-. Farish, John Wetmore. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

OPENING OP THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. CONDITION OJ* 

ROADS AND BRIDGES. INSTITUTION OP THE POST 

OEEICK H. Gj PARISH. PROGRESS IN PUBLIC 

BUILDINGS. EPISCOPAL CHURCH. ABBb' 

SIGOGNB. SOCIAL CONVENIENCES. 

tHE opening of this century found Yarmouth flourish- 
ing and prosperous. Population was steadily in- 
creasing ; 

ROADS AND BRIDGES 

were beginning to be carefully built ; commercial and ship» 
ping interests were extending ; and public buildings were 
about to give character to the Town, as the centre of 
County influence. Even at this period we trace the pre- 
sence of some of the comforts and conveniences, not to say 
elegancies of life. Not that there was any thing to boast 
of. There was none of that network of roads which a few 
years later served to throw over the whole face of the 
County. The road to Tusket was not more than chopped 
out; and, although surveyed and re-surveyed, the road 
through the Town itself was a series of lines after Ho- 
garth's own heart, round the undrawn stumps of forest 
giants. 

" The post road to Beaver River was not even explored till 1801. Pre- 
*' viously, if any one had business in Annapolis County, he was compelled 
" to take the beach, and follow the sea shore up from Cranberry Head to 



History of Yarmouth. 117 

" Cape St. Mary's, using the precaution however to be at the mouths of 
" the seyeral rivers on the Bay at low tide, that they might be forded ; for 
" there was not a bridge on the whole line. After a lapse of ten years, say 
" 1811, I used to find it a hard day's work to urge my Canadian pony 
" through the mire and among the tortuous roots of the huge beech trees, 
" of which the forest was composed, as far as Meteghan. We seldom could 
" accomplish the distance before night, except in midsummer, or in cases 
" of urgent haste,"*t 

Before the bridge over tlie Tusket was built, the only 
way to that village was by striking the river above Ply- 
mouth ; and so go up by boat in summer, and on the ice 
in winter. The bridge over that river was built under the 
direction of Col. Bond, who, under commission dated 18th 
May, 1802, was appointed "Commissioner for superintend- 
" ing and directing the expenditure of two hundred and 
" fifty pounds, which were voted in the last sessions of the 
" General Assembly of this Province, for to aid and assist 
" the inhabitants of Argyle and Yarmouth to erect and 
" complete a bridge over Tusket River. "| In the follow- 
ing year, the Sessions report to the Government, that the 
work was done " in a very thorough and substantial man- 
ner." 

The natural consequence of an increasing population, 
desirous of keeping up an acquaintance with what was 

* " Eecollections," by Dr. H. G. Farish. 

t The following extract from the manuscript Journal of a Presbyterian 
Minister who travelled through the western part of the Province in 1785, 
is curiously confirmatory of this description of the state of the roads : — 
" The road from Yarmouth to Salmon Eiver, which is upon the south end 
" of the Township of Clare, is exceeding bad even for one on foot, as there 
" is no road, nor even a path, and much worse for an horse. Ye can scarce 
" ride at all, excepting sometimes when ye can get upon the beach, andbut 
" very indifierent then. And there is what makes it still worse and more 
" difficult passing at all, saving at low water, and that is several small 
" rivers, which can only be rode at low water, but then can be easily passed." 

\ Commission Paper. 



118 History of Yarmouth. 

going on in tlie outside world, was a demand for increasing 
facility of communication. At, and before this time, tlie 
only means of sending or receiving letters was by the kind- 
ness of a friend passing through Digby or coming from 
Halifax. 

But in June, 1806, a 

POST OFFICE 

was established in Yarmouth. Says the Postmaster of the 
day— 

" For the first six years after my appointment, our mails, wrapped in a 
" bit of brown paper, were sent down in the jacket pocket of any French- 
" man who happened to be at Digby, and had business of his own to bring 
" him on to Yarmouth. Some of these little mails, of one or two letters, 
" were more than a fortnight coming from Digby, and from three to four 
" weeks coming from Annapolis and Halifax : one of them travelled one 
" hundred miles in twenty-six days." 

During the first six months after the establishment of 
the office, only fifteen letters were despatched, every one 
of which was unpaid. The first person commissioned to 
carry the mail between Yarmouth and Digby was Mr. 
Jesse Wyman in the year 1810. I know of nothing that 
more decidedly marks the progress of the place than that 
fact as contrasted with the piles of matter now brought in 
daily. In the year 1871, 200,000 letters, and 150,000 
newspapers passed through the office : 170 mails were de- 
spatched, and as many received every week : money orders 
were issued to the extent of $40,000 ; and the money 
orders imid amounted to nearly $22,000.* 

* By the courtesy of A. J. Hood, Esq., I am able to present the reader 
with the following information respecting the numbers of Letters and 
Papers of different kinds which were handled at the Yarmouth Office dur- 
ing the year 1875: — Letters, 270,000; Eegistered Letters, 4,000; Papers, 
215,000; Postal Cards, 13,500; Circulars, 17,500; Money Orders granted, 
S51,000; and Money Orders paid, ^38,000. 



History of Yarmoiith. 119 

Tlie first Postmaster, and the only one for fifty years, 
was the late Dr. Henry Greggs Farish, to whom circum- 
stances have compelled so frequent reference in these pages. 
He was born at Brooklyn, New York, where his father 
was, at that time, a Commissary in the British army. 
After the peace in 1785, his parents with their family 
removed to Shelburne, and afterwards to Norfolk, Virginia. 
He entered the Navy as Assistant Surgeon, on board the 
Asia, and was soon after promoted as Surgeon on board 
H. M. S. Cleopatra. At the peace, the ship was paid ofi"; 
and, after having practised some little time in England, 
he returned to Nova Scotia, and settled in Yarmouth in 
the year 1803, and here he remained till his death in 
1856. In addition to his duties as a medical practitioner, 
in which capacity he Vfas very highly esteemed, he filled 
for many years, with singular ability, integrity and impar- 
tiality, many important public ofiices. He was Naval Offi- 
cer, Collector of Excise, Eegistrar of Deeds, and an able 
Magistrate. He was also Land Commissioner, Judge of 
the Court of Common Pleas ; for twenty years Custos of 
the County ; and, as before said, for fifty years Postmaster. 
I found whilst in Hahfax making some enquiries, that, 
till this day, his remarkable accuracy was fresh in the 
memory of the older Post Office authorities. 

He came to Yarmouth when scarcely more than the rude 
clearings of the forest were visible ; and he never ceased to 
take a deep interest in Avhatever concerned the history, 
progress, and welfare of his adopted home. He was evi- 
dently a most jliscreet man ; of few words ; but of careful 
and constant action. He seldom spoke in public ; but no 



120 History of Yarmouth. 

public work was uninfluenced by bim. He was, in well- 
worn phrase, "a gentleman and a scliolar" ; and, however 
widely his opinions differed from the majority of those 
among whom he lived, he commanded the respect of all. 
The ruling principle of his life seems to have been a strong 
sense of duty, from which he would not swerve, however 
painful the consequences might be to himself. Nor can I 
leave this portrait without giving it the epigrammatic touch 
of an old inhabitant, since deceased, who knew him long 
and well, and who told me that the only faults that many 
found in him were, that he was a Conservative in polities 
and a Churchman in religion. 

We have said that public buildings, at the beginning of 
the century, indicated increasing prosperity. Up till this 
time, there were but two meeting-houses in the County ; 
that at Chebogue, and the other in Cape Forchue ; besides 
the Eoman Catholic chapels at Eel. Brook and Pubnico. 
But in the spring of 1807, the 

OLD EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

was raised, and on Sunday, Dec. 13th of the same year. 
Divine Service was held there for the first time. The first 
member of this body who came to Yarmouth to reside was 
Joseph Norman Bond; and, after him in succession as 
they came, the Loyalist families, who were, almost without 
exception, Churchmen. For many years those families 
had no church ministrations, and the consequence finally 
was that numbers of them became attached to other bodies. 
Occasional visits to Yarmouth had been made by Clergy- 
men: the first of whom was the Rev'd David Ormond. 



History of Yarmouth. 121 

Afterwards, visits were made by Mr. and Dr. Kowland, 
successively Rectors of Shelburne, and others. But the 
first Rector was the Rev. Ranna Cossit, a native of Say- 
brook, Conn., who was inducted to the Parish on the 23rd 
of January, 1807. 

On the preceding Michaelmas Bay, Sept. 29th, 1806, 
the first Parish Officers had been appointed. They were, 
Church Wardens — Joseph Norman Bond and Samuel Mar- 
shall, Esquires ; and the first Vestrymen were — 

Thomas Wilson Stephen Adams 

Joseph Bell Job Smith 

Jacob Tooker William Robertson 

Jonathan Horton Robert Huston 

David Yan Norden Joseph Tooker, and 

Henry Grreggs Farish, Clerk of the Vestry. 

As men who were looking ahead, the Church Wardens 
and Vestry resolved to obtain grants of land for Glebe and 
School purposes. And in the month of August, 1807, the 
Rector went to Halifax on that business, bringing back 
with him the grant and plans of the lots assigned. For 
many years very strong feeling existed in the Town on the 
subject ; the popular conviction being that tbeir Church 
brethren had no legal right or title. Nor were they for- 
v/ard to prove that they had. 

Mr. Cossit died in 1815, and was buried under the 
Chancel of the old Church.* His remains were interred 
with Masonic ceremonial, the first instance I have met 
with in this County. (The first Masonic Lodge was formed 

* This old landmark, much to the regret of many of the neighbour- 
ing inhabitants, was torn down and taken to pieces in the early pajfe 
of 1874. 



122 History of Yarmouth. 

in Yarmoutli in 1795.) For some time the Eev. Mr. Mil- 
ner, of New Brunswick, served the congregation. The 
next Eector, the Eev. Thomas A. Grantham, the father of 
our respected citizen Henry A. Grantham, Esq., arrived in 
Yarmouth in 1819, and laboured here till 1834. The third 
in charge was the Eev. Alfred Gilpin. He was succeeded 
by the Eev. Eichard Avery, who was transferred to the 
Parish of Aylesford in 1845 : and in 1846 the Parish was 
placed in charge of the Eev. J. T. T. Moody, the present 
incumbent. This denomination erected in 1872 a sub- 
stantial Church-like edifice, in the early English period of 
architecture, of which we here insert a view ; and, in 1873, 
a Parish School House in|a similar style, both situate in 
the centre of the Town. The adherents of this body now 
number nearly one thousand. 

After the expulsion of the French Aeadians, the first 
Eoman Catholic chapel in the County was built in 1784, 
being the Church of St. Anne, at Eel Brook. Originally 
the mission of Saint Peter's, at Pubnico, was part of the 
Parish of Saint John the Baptist at Port Eoyal ; afterwards 
of Saint Mary's ; still later, of Saint Anne's, Eel Brook ; 
and, at last, in the year 1816, the inhabitants of that set- 
tlement had their own chapel, which finally became too 
small ; and in 1841, that which now stands on a piece of 
land given for the purpose by Benoni D'Entremont, Esq., 
was raised ; M. Goudot being the Missionary. This set- 
tlement of Pubnico is certainly destined to be one of the 
most important in the County. In 1871 the eleven fami- 
lies of 1771 had increased to about one hundred and fifty. 




j4oLY JrINITY. 



EPISCOPAL 



History of Yarmouth. 123 

Whilst speaking of Koman Catholic Church matters, I may 
say that there are now six chm-ches and chapels in this 
County, viz : 

Eel Brook, consecrated in 1784 



Pubnico, *' 




1816 


Tusket Wedge, 




1822 


Town " 




1862 


Surette's Island, " 




1859 


Forks, " 




1859 



There is a very commodious Educational establishment 
in the interest of the same body at Eel Brook, and another 
nearly as extensive was completed in 1874 on the west 
side of Pubnico harbour. 

There can be no more fitting place than this to preserve 
some memorials of the 

ABBE SIGOGNE, 

for fifty years Parish Priest and Missionary from Pubnico 
to Annapolis, embracing what are now nine or ten French 
Acadian missions. He was a native of Tours in France. 
In 1790, his father being then Mayor of Lyons, he escaped 
from Paris at the outbreak of the Revolution, and found 
his way to London, where he lived for nearly two years. 
From thence he removed to this country, where he lived 
for half a century. He was a man of excellent ability ; 
good judgment ; a rich and vigorous imagination ; and a 
logical precision of thought. He was a great admirer of 
English institutions ; and he ever taught the people under 
his charge, loyalty. Had the Acadians before 1755 been 
blessed with such men to rule, guide, and instruct them, 
they never would have been expelled. Abbe Sigogne was 



124 History of Yarmouth. 

an excellent Parisli Priest, as well as practically the lawyer, 
judge, and notary public of all the French Acadians of 
Clare, Tusket, and Pubnico. He began and carefully ]3re- 
served the Eecords of his Mission. He wrote all the 
deeds and contracts of his parishioners ; and, we are told, 
he constantly taught them to avoid litigation and strife. 
Amongst his learning may be included a knowledge of the 
Indian language ; and the Mic Macs always regarded him 
with the utmost veneration and respect. This venerable 
man, who died in Clare on the 9th of November, 1844, 
had a most generous appreciation of the truly liberal char- 
acter of England as a nation.* 

We observed that at the beginning of the century marks 
of convenience, comfort, and elegance were being gradually 
introduced. In the year 1799, Col. J. N. Bond brought 
into Yarmouth the first 

PLEASURE CAREIAGE, — 

a chaise, — which was ever seen in the County; but its 
melancholy end was somewhat discouraging to intending 
importers. It lay unused till 1804, when Mr. Bell, Col. 
Bond's Mher-in-law, tackled it up, and having got in, was 
immediately thrown out. It repiained undisturbed till the 
next year, when Col. Bond once more put in the horse, 
intending to take some of his family for a drive. He first 
got in, in order to try it ; but it tried him and the chaise 
both. The horse ran off, and turning into the open grave 
yard in front of the Cape Forchue meeting house, the 

* I am chiefly indebted to L. E. Bourque, Esq., Clare, for tliese facts. 



Bistory of Yarmouth. 125 

ckaise struck a tree, which threw him out, and broke the 
carriage into pieces. Mr. Zach. Chipman was the nest 
importer. In the year 1831 there were 140 pleasure 
carriages in Yarmouth; and by the census of 1871 it 
appears that there were then 1438 j besides 2916 other 
vehicles, in the County. 



CHAPTER XV. 

SUPREMACY OF YARMOUTH GRADUALLY ASSERTED. 
WAR OF 1812-14. LOYAL MEMORIAL. DEFENCES. 

I^^Y the year 1810, Yarmouth had struggled for and 
^^ obtained decidedly the 

PRE-EMINENCE OVEE CHEBOGUE. 

On the Church hill, or Butler's hill, as it is sometimes 
called, were the building used as a court house, the stores 
of the principal merchants, and taverns ; and, ' in fact, 
that was the Town.* 

It is not to be doubted that the introduction of the Loy- 
alist element infused a new life into the County. "Know- 
ledge is power" : and many of that class were, at once, 
well informed and experienced men, who had seen some- 
thing of life. We feel then as we proceed into the century, 
that things are rapidly becoming more defined in every 
respect; ideas of business of all kinds more enlarged; it 
may be, too much so. For instance, about the year 1810, 
an idea was started to the effect that if the head of the 
Yarmouth harbour was connected by locks with Lake 

* The chief hotel was Eichan's, where special sessions from titoe to 
time were held. ^ The "long room" in this house was thought wonder- 
ful, at the time, for its size. On the north side of the house stood a 
great willow tree, where from time to time such poor wights as were guilty 
of petty larceny or the like, were tied up and received '• thirty-nine lashes 
on the bare back, well laid on." 



History of Yarmouth. 127 

George, the fortunes of the settlers and inhabitants gener- 
ally, were as good as made. It was a hold thought at least, 
and appeared so feasible that in the following year, 1811, 
" an Act for the encouragement of Inland Navigation" was 
passed, which embodied a corporation, provided officers, 
limited their powers, regulated their tariffs, and defined 
the corporation as " the Yarmouth Lock and Canal Pro- 
prietors." Some business was actually done ; but the 
enterprise ultimately failed ; and I believe all the right and 
title tcf the privileges of the corporation have become cen- 
tred in one person, Samuel Killam, Esq., Vestiges of the 
works may still be seen in the middle of the stream, on 
the south side of the bridge at Milton. 

We have already seen how very embarrassing to the 
inhabitants of this County the revolutionary war proved. 
And, if not as embarrassing, at least as annoying and har- 
rassing was 

THE WAR OF 1812-14, 

Privateers were continually hovering around, ready to 
pounce on vessels belonging to belligerents ; and frequently 
unoffending inhabitants, unarmed, were attacked. Thus, 
on the 8th of October, 1812, a boat's crew from an Ameri- 
can privateer, landed on Sheep Island, at the mouth of 
the Tusket Eiver, which was inhabited by a poor French- 
man named Francis Clement and his family; and although 
unoffending and unresisting, they deliberately shot the man 
dead, ransacked the house, and carried off the stock ; leav- 
ing a widow and orphan children, the oldest of whom was 
a helpless cripple. This privateer was afterwards captured 



128 History of Yarmouth. 

hj the Shannon, and the murderer identified as the lieu» 
tenant.* 

At least seven vessels owned in this County or port were 
taken; several of our townsmen were killed; and many of 
them endured very great hardships in prison. During the 
first year of the war, Militia volunteers performed night 
duty on all the exposed stations from Chehogue Point to 
Chegoggin ; and mounted guard every night as regularly as 
soldiers of the line. The second year they were relieved 
to a great extent by a company of embodied Militia,* raised 
from among' our own population, whose head-quarters were 
on Bunker's Island where the sites of the block house and 
battery are yet very clearly defined. 

At 

THte COMMENCEMENT OJ' HOSTILl'TlES, 

the people of this County showed a spirit of enthusiastic 
loyalty, which compares most favourably with the coldei* 
calculations into which many of them entered in the peti- 
tion of 1775. No sooner had reliable information been 
obtained that the conflict had opened, than the Magistrates 
of the County prepared a w^ell-written Memorial to Sir 
John Coape Sherbrooke, the Lieutenant Governor of the 
Province, which, I think, is worthy of being preserved 
here :— 

"May it please your ExckllencV,— 

" The accounts of a commencement of hostilities haying reached us in 
"such a manner as to leave little or no doubt of the fact, we, the Magis- 
" trates of the Districts of Yarmouth and Argyle, impelled by a strong 
" sense of what we owe to the people over whom we are appointed to pre- 
" side, and by a zeal for the faithful discharge of our public duty, beg leave 
" to apply to your E:£celleney for such assistance as it may be thought 
" proper at the present crisis to aiford us. 

* Murdoch in, 333. 



History of Yarmouth. 129 

'' If your Excellency wiU. be pleased to cast an eye over this part of the 
" Province, you will readily see that our apprehensions are not without 
" foundation. The enemy is within'a few hour's sail of our shore, and the 
" coast of the District is so extensive and so indented with deep bay?, and 
" covered with islands, and the population is so detatched, as to render 
" any efficient defence very difficult if not impossible, unless aided by some 
"Naval or Military force." 

" We are well aware of the present limited means of defence within the 
"Province, and at a time when our fellow Colonists are menaced and even 
" invaded by the enemy it would be highly unreasonable for us to ask or 
" expect any very material assistance unless your Excellency should deem 
" it expedient to establish a military post at this plape, for which it is par- 
" ticularly calculated. We have, therefore, called together the Grrand Jury 
" of the District to provide for the building of four gunboats, and we now 
" respectfully solicit your Excellency for the guns and other materials 

" necessary for their equipment And, we feel a great satisfac- 

" tion in assuring you that^ere appears a general disposition in all classes 
"and descriptions of people in this community to perform their duty eheer- 
" fully in their respective stations. We have, etc. «. 

" James Lent, 
"Henry G. Parish, 
" Samuel Sheldon Poole, 
" Benjamin Barnard, 
" EicHAKD Fletcher, 
" Samuel Marshall." 

We have already anticipated the fact that part of this 

MEMOEIAL WAS ACCEDED TO, 

Joseph Norman Bond, Esqr., being appointed Colonel of 

Militia. In addition to the fort on Bunker's Island, — 

some pieces of ordnance were kept, ready for necessary 

use, immediately in the rear of Colonel Bond's house. 

There was also a Block House on the eminence situated 

in the heart of the Town of Yarmouth, known as the 

"Kock," — one of the most beautiful properties in the 

County, then owned by Colonel Bond. 

The defence of this coast and the appointment of Militia 

was by no means an unnecessary proceeding. We have 

moi'e than one reminiscence of violence offered to the inha- 
j 



130 History of Yarmouth. 

Mtants and of successful defence of the place and capture 
of prisoners by the Militia,— who were also required from 
time to time to carry their prisoners to head-quarters. 
The Militia embodied here, were frequently sent to Halifax 
to take the place of the regular soldiers who were sent 
abroad. It was on such an expedition as this that Captain 
James Cain, whilst in command of his company, fell down 
dead near Chegoggin Kiver. 

It is somewhat amusing now to read some of the ac- 
counts rendered by the Innkeepers of the day for boarding 
prisoners and Militia men. Here is one of them ; — 

GoYernment to (Jonathan Corning, Dr. 
1812— 

^Aug. 27. For dinners supplied to 5 Militia and 4 prisoners... ^0 9s. Od, 
1813— 

Sept. 19. For supper for . . . Militia and prisoners 9 

" 20. " breakfast for 5 Militia men on their way back 

to Yarmouth 5 



£1 3s. Od. 
In one case there are bills from four Innkeepers for 
Militia and prisoners, viz : — 

Cyrus Perry £3 Os. 6d. 

Jonathan Corning 2 6 

Jacques Deveau 2 13 6 

Charles Terrio 2 3 



J9 17 & 
and, I think the last two dates in the former bill suggest 
that such pieces of business were more frequent than w© 
have now the means of deciding. 

Without being able to assert positively how many Yar- 
mouth vessels were taken by American cruisers, we have 
been able to trace seven distinctly. On the other hand, we 
took at least ten of theirs ; a ratio, if the tonnage were 



History of Yarmouth. 131 

proportionate, which must have tended to the final pros- 
perity of the County. 

Since that war, no hostile vessels have infested our 
waters, nor have the enemies' feet trod our ground. The 
Military spirit is not that which characterizes our people, 
or which brings them honour. Still, it is a fact worth 
preserving, that when the old Militia system had fallen into 
desuetude and inefficiency, Yarmouth has the distinction 
of having formed the first company of Rifle Volunteers, in 
what is now the Dominion of Canada, and, I believe, they 
also received the first issue of arms. The company was 
commanded by Captain J. W. H. Rowley, whose commis- 
sion bears date of October 24th, 1859. 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

THE STORY OF YARMOUTH SHIPPING ENTERPRISE. ANTHONY 

LANDERS. RISE OF THE METHODIST BODY. THE FREE 

BAPTISTS. RISE AND PROGRESS OF SUNDAY SCHOOLS. 

" Who, in frail barques, the ocean surge defied 
And trained the race that live upon the ware ? 
What shore so distant where they have not died ? 
In every sea they found a watery grave. 
^ Honour, for ever, to the true and brave 

Who seaward led their Sons with spirits high, 
Bearing the red cross flag their fathers gave ; 

Long as the billows flout the arching sky 
They 'U seaward bear it still, to venture or to die."* 



%m 



i^UE reference to the loss of vessels connected witli this 
County in the war of 1812-1814, together with the 
first visit in 1808 of a man whose early enterprise is worthy 
of a public memorial, lead us to . 

THE HISTORY OF OUR SHIPPING INTERESTS ; t 

a subject ever fresh and interesting, and to some extent an 
illustration of the saying that truth is stranger than fiction. 
The narrative is necessarily one more of the Toivnship 
than of the County ; and again, in a smaller circle, of the 
Town, rather than of the Township. 

* Hon. Joseph Howe. 

t The reader is referred for further information on this interesting topic 
to a book devoted exclusively to the subject of Shipping, which has been 
published since this work was written. 



History of Yarmouth. 133 

By a tradition, with which even the children are familiar, 
in the year of settlement, there was one Schooner belong- 
ing to the party named the "Pompey." The 25 tons of 
1761 gave place a century later, 1861, to 149 vessels of 
39,713 tons. Great as the ratio of this increase is, it pales 
before that of the next ten years ; for in 1871 the tonnage 
was upwards of ninety thousand : equal to the whole of the 
British shipping in the time of Henry the Seventh ; and 
equal to the shipping of the port of London, in the reign 
of Charles the Second. And great as the increase of the 
century ending 1861 was ; the fourteen years which have 
since elapsed, have served to swell that increase by two 
hundred per cent. And should the same ratio be main- 
tained throughout the century ending 1961, the tonnage 
will have increased to upwards of 420,000 : a presumption 
which, with the blessing of heaven, without which, pros- 
perity is an evil, experience renders reasonable. For this 
increase has not been spasmodic ; nor has it been charac- 
terized by great or retrogressive fluctuations. With very 
few exceptions, from the year of settlement down to the 
present, every succeeding year shows a marked and steady 
advance. There may be traces of the truth of the theory 
that there is a great depression every ten years ; but, for 
the more part, progress and increase is the watchword. In 
the years 1843-4, there was a falling off both in numbers 
and tonnage. But frequently the number of vessels regis- 
tered without reference to the tonnage would mislead. 
Thus, in 1839 there were 120 vessels, whose aggregate was 
10,000 tons. In 1859, twenty years afterwards, there were 
but 123 vessels with a tonnage, however, amounting to 



134 History of Yarmouth. 

35,000, showing an increase of only three vessels, but at the 
same time of 25,000 tons. The explanation is, that, in the 
mean time, a very different class of vessels had come into 
existence, engaged in a very different trade. Before 1820 
there were but one or two vessels which crossed the 
Atlantic ; but by the year 1850, those that left Yarmouth 
seldom returned, in the sense of carrying freight to or from 
the Port. There is another sense however, in which they 
never return : and it is a melancholy fact, the details of 
which are before us, that up till the present time there 
have been 600 vessels lost out of Yarmouth — in nearly 
100 of which there was loss of all hands. 

The names of Bobbins, Lovitt, Baker, Kyerson, Moses, 
Killam, Dennis and Doane, Goudey, Moody, and very many 
(jthers, tell us of the successful extension of our foreign ship- 
ping interests. But to none of them, however largely they 
may have contributed towards the building up and extend- 
ing of that department, belongs the honour of having, so to 
speak, originated the foreign trade of the Port. That honour 
belongs to a man whose name does not appear in our lists — 

ANTHONY LANDERS, 

♦ 

a native of Sunderland, England, whose spirited and exten- 
sive operations in ship building, merited a more successful 
issue. Mr. Landers first arrived in Yarmouth in 1808, on 
board a Dutch galliott of 101 tons, named the " Badger," 
which he loaded with a cargo of timber for Sunderland. 
On his return he bought two grants of land, to facilitate 
his futtre operations. The first vessel he built was a brig 
of 250 tons named the " Peter Wp-ldo." She was launched 
at Plymouth. He afterwards built another brig at Plymouth 



History of Yarmouth. 135 

named the ^'Bittern," wliicli lie also loaded with, timber 
for the English market. On his return voyage, having on 
board the weights and measures for the Township of Yar- 
mouth, • together with some of the best Northumberland 
sheep, and a Northumberland bull and eow, he was taken 
off Halifax by the " Tezel," an American privateer, belong- 
ing to Providence, E. I. They offered him and his crew 
the long boat ; but Captain Landers refused to leave his 
ship. When the privateer and her prize arrived at Provi- 
dence, the authorities received him kindly, but kept his 
vessel. He stated his scheme about improving the stock ; 
and they gave him some of their best breeds, which they 
afterwards sent to him at Yarmouth. 

When the war was over, he bought an American vessel, 
which had been taken by a Liverpool privateer. Her name 
had been the "Factor," which he changed to the "Bittern," 
and all that remains of her lies in the Yarmouth harbour. 
He sailed some time in this vessel between Yarmouth and 
England. In the year 1818 he brought out all his furni- 
ture and other effects, including improved farming imple- 
ments, together with a competent man, the late George W. 
Brown, to carry on the farm. 

In 1819 he built the barque " Zebulun," 300 tons ; in 
1821 the "Waldo," 250 tons; the " Thales," at Tusket,' 
260 tons; and at Salmon Eiver, the "Ugonia," 260 tons. 
In 1825 he built the " Thetis," 300 tons; and, at Milton, 
the barque "Hebron." In 1830 he built the barque 
" Dove," and the brig " Ehoda," each 275 tons.* If the 

* I am indebted to Capt. George Allen for many of these facts, which he 
kindly communicated to me, as jfe-rlj as 1871. 



136 



History of Yarmouth. 



circumstances be all taken into account, it must be con- 
fessed that he was a far more than ordinarily spirited and 
enterprising man : and he may justly, I conceive, be called 
the Father, if not the Founder of our foreign trade, which 
is the main source of the continued and increasing pros- 
perity of Yarmouth. 

But fickle as she is said to be. Fortune was more than 
usually so with this man. In the year 1833, he went to 
reside in England ; and, I have been credibly informed, 
that a few years ago, a number of Yarmouth men being in 
Liverpool, subscribed among them to furnish him with a 
coat. He became beggared in the initiating and prosecu- 
ting of an enterprise, in which thousands are now becoming 
rich.* I have transferred from the Herald, 

THE USUALLY RECEIVED LIST OF VESSELS, 

which have belonged to Yarmouth at different periods 
since 1761 : — 



Year. No. of Vessels. Tons. 



1761 


1 


25 


1762 


4 


80 


1767 


7 


156 


1791 


26 


554 


1808 


41 


1,880 


1814 


42 


2,130 


1815 


49 


2,441 


1816 


69 


3,854 


1817 


71 


3,848 


1818 


75 


3,469 


1819 


72 


3,403 


1820 


67 


2,877 


1821 


68 


3,191 


1822 


65 


3,000 



Year. No. of Vessels. Tons. 



1823 


73 


3,664 


1832 


88 


4,348 


1834 


91 


5,141 


1835 


99 


6,339 


1836 


103 


6,855 


1837 


108 


7,475 


1838 


119 


9,209 


1839 


120 


10,301 


1840 


124 


10,541 


1841 


126 


13,389 


1842 


120 


13,765 


1843 


96 


12,500 


1844 


88 


12,607 


1846 


100 


12,685 



* Curiously enough, whilst ready and waiting for the press, "A narrative 
" of the Travels and Voyages of Captain Anthony Landers, * * * 
" written by himself * * * and printed at New York in 1815," fell 
into my hands. But beyond the circumstance that this publication was 
either never known or long since forgotten in the County, I found nothing 
in the sixty pages of which it consists, to my present purpose. 



History of Yarmouth. 



137 



Year. No. of Vessels. Tons. 



1847 
1848 
1849 
1850 
1852 
1854 
1855 
1856 
1857 
1858 
1859 
1860 
1861 
1862 



115 

123 
130 
113 
106 
121 
128 
106 
109 
117 
121 
13S 
149 
152 



13,662 
16,604 
17,224 

17,890 
18,888 
21,049 
25,690 
25,873 
30,966 
35,714 
36,030 
36,514 
39,713 
49,985 



Year. No. of Vessels. Tons. 



1863 
1864 
1865 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 



154 
187 
199 
187 
261 
267 
263 
258 
262 
257 
248 
261 
256 
254 



50,130 

64,102 

71,830 

73,055 

77,003 

78,590 

81,896 

82,147 

90,668 

95,182 

95,932 

110,466 

120,966 

131,723 



The uncommon prosperity of our people in shipping affairs 
frequently excites wonder and enquiry. But in this case, 
however we may fail to ti-ace all the 

CAUSES OF SUCCESS, 

there are many which lie upon the surface, plain and 
obvious to all who will note them. Besides the traditions 
of the place, and impressions dating from early childhood, 
we may trace the elements of prosperity in the constant 
application of the principle of mutual assistance which 
holds out encouragement, by promising advancement to 
the deserving ; a co-operative spirit widely applied to every 
department of the business ; a practical study of marine 
law;* a close observation of the most approved methods 
of ship building, and of conducting insurance matters; 
extensive knowledge of foreign ports; personal acquaint- 
ance with the most reliable agents ; captains in charge 
whose characters are soon well known, and who are 



* It is a noteworthy proof of what we are here saying, that one of our 
Yarmouth men, now resident in Liverpool, England— Captain E. B. Hat- 
field — made himself so felt in the public discussions on the Plimsoll Bill, 
that he was selected to give evidence in a Eoyal Commission ; and, since 
then, some of the opinions he expressed in that capacity, have become part 
of the Maritime Law of the Empire. 



138 History of Yarmouth. 

interested as part owners ; scrupulous regard to foreign 
credit ; quick intelligence and unconquerable enterprize ; 
and, above all, the protecting hand of an auspicious Provi- 
dence, whose blessing accompanies and gives success to 
human efforts, and so brings those vessels from time to 
time unto the haven where they would be.*' 

As an illustration of the tentative maritime spirit of the 
people, I think it to the purpose to present the reader with 
the following extract from "A Lecture on the Screw 
Propeller," delivered before the Yarmouth Literary So- 
ciety, 12th January, 1841, by James C. Farish, M. D. : — 

" It is now seyen years since Mr. John Patch, an ingenious shipwright 
" of this place, having been long convinced from his observations upon the 
" means in use for propelling vessels — from an oar to a paddle wheel — that 
" there might still be something invented more efficient than any of these, 
" in the spring of 1834 completed a Screw which he had been some time con. 
" triving for that purpose. He was then residing at Xelley's Cove, in this 
" County, and was observed for some months to have been privately en- 
" gaged at work in the store and in the boats off the wharves. At length 
" he communicated his secret to Captain Eobert Kelley, but not until he 
" had alone made sufficient trials of his machine. Captain Eelley assisted 
'' him, and they two, by the simple working of a crank, sent their boat 
" ahead .at the rate of five or six knots, without oars or sails. 

" During that summer he was sailing up St. John harbour in a little 
" schooner of twenty-five tons, in company with ten or twelve other vessels, 

* I am not in a position to prove the assertion which is sometimes made 
by enthusiastic citizens — and which, if true, is certainly a fact worth record- 
ing — that the Shipping owned in this County yields a higher proportion ^cj* 
Jwad to the whole population, than does that of any known county in any 
other country. Be that as it may, the following are facts : — The propor- 
tion of tonnage owned in the County gives about seven tons to each indi- 
vidual ; the proportion owned in the Township of Yarmouth yields rather 
more than twelve tons to each individual; whilst that which is owned 
within the Town limits gives about twenty tons to every man, woman, and 
child. These facts may be established in detail, first, by comparing the 
whole population with the gross tonnage ; and secondly, by comparing the 
population of the parts indicated with the amount of Shipping known to 
be owned in the Township and Town of Yarmouth, respectively. 



History of Yarmouth. 139 

" when it fell dead calm. He got out his Screw over the quarter, and he 
" and Capt. Silas Kelley (the only persons on board) by the same simple 
" power, a crank, soon left the rest of the fleet astern, wondering by what 
" means he had got ahead of them, without sweeps or any other visible 



"Having perfected his discovery, and made such trials as satisfied him- 
" self and his confidential friends, Mr. Patch in July, 1834, at Captain E. 
" Xelley's suggestion, proceeded to Washington to take out a patent for his 
" invention ; but everything that he met with had the efiect of discourag- 
" ing him, and at last he abandoned his purpose. As Mr. Patch spoke 
" freely of his invention, and as the Screw Propeller appeared within a 
" year or two after this date, it seems reasonable to suppose that others 
" profited by his labours. If not the original inventor, an original inventor 
" he certainly was." 

Intimately connected with the matter of Shipping, is 
that of 

COAST AND HARBOUR CONVENIENCES. 

Before 1830, there were neither lights nor whistles, 
beacons nor breakwaters in the County. In 1820, the 
Governor in Council was memoralized to cause the outer 
Seal Island to be settled, and a light placed thereon. 
Nothing was done in that way however, till 1830, in which 
year the lighthouse was established. In 1839 the Yar- 
mouth lighthouse was built, and it was first lighted on the 
15th of January, 1840. The bell which had been fixed in 
the same neighbourhood was removed for the fog whistle, 
which was first used in February, 1869. Since 1870 a 
whistle has also been placed on the Seal Island ; and those 
safeguards, together with the light on Pubnico beach, 
placed there in 1854 ; that on the Fish Island in the 
Tusket Eiver, placed there in 1864; the beacon in the 
Yarmouth Harbour lighted on February 16th, 1874; 
together with that on White Head Island at the mouth of 
the Argyle Harbour, well nigh supply everything except 



140 History of Yarmouth. 

skill and care on the part of navigators, for the safe conduct 
of shipping. 

Another work of moment to the County ultimately, 
although to the port primarily, is the breakwater in the 
Yarmouth Harbour, a work which was done in 1873 at a 
cost of $11,000. It is a substantial work 2,800 feet long, 
22 feet wide, with an average height of seven feet, and is 
designed to arrest the strong tendency created by the action 
of the high tides and westerly winds, to obstruct, and 
finally destroy, the Harbour. 

It is hard to determine how much is due to the late 
Anthony Landers ; but among other things with which he 
may be credited, is the introduction and advancement of 

THE METHODIST BODY IN THIS COUNTY.* 

The now thriving settlement of Hebron was very largely 
Mr. Landers' property. He there built and resided in 
what he named " Hebron House," in which he began to 
hold meetings in the year 1810; and seven years after- 
wards he built a chapel at Hebron, which however was 

* I here append as interesting to one class of readers, the list of 
Wesleyan Superintendent Ministers up till 1865, when the Milton Circtiit 
was set off. The memory of the youngest reader will reach all who have 
been in Yarmouth since : — 

Eer. William Alder 1§16 Eev. Eowland Morton 1844 

" Thomas Payne 1818 " Henry Pope, Senr 1846 

" John Snowball 1819 " Eichard WeddaU 1849 

" Eobert H. Crane 1820 " Eichard Williams 1850 

" George Millar 1821 " William Wilson 1851 

« WilliamSmith 1S28 " Michael Pickles 1855 

" Thos. H. Davies 1830 " James England 1858 

« William McDonald... 1832 " George Johnson 1859 

" Wm, Webb 1834 " Ingram Sutcliffe 1860 

" John McMurray 1836 " John Prince 1863 

" Cha'sDeWolfe 1839 " Jas. G. Hennigar 1866 

" Charles Churchill 1841 " Henry Daniel 1867 




Providence -f! h u r c h. 



METHODIST. 



Ri^tory of Yarmouth. 141 

never finished, and which, has long since disappeared. 
He also procured the services from Conference of the first 
Methodist Minister in the County, the Kev. Mr. Alder, a 
talented man who died in 1873 in Gibraltar, in which 
Diocese, in connection with the Church of England, he had 
become Eegistrar and Surrogate. For several years Mr. 
Landers boarded Mr. Alder and paid his expenses. Since 
that time the Methodist body has greatly increased. They 
have four modern places of worship in the Town and 
vicinity :— Wesley Church at Milton, which was built about 
ten years ago, when the society abandoned their less con- 
venient chapel, which had been used since 1 839 ; Provi- 
dence Church in the south end of the Town, which also 
supplanted an earlier structure ; a smaller building at Arca- 
dia ; and another at Brooklyn. They have also a fifth 
place of worship at the thriving settlement at Darling's 
Lake. The reader has here a view of Providence Church 
which is situate at the south end of the Town. 

In this connection, as a religious matter, the history of 
the Free Baptist body may be touched upon. In the year 
1819 the Kev. Jacob B. Norton came to Yarmouth from 
the State of Massachusetts. He belonged to the Society 
known as the Christian Band. About the same time, the 
Rev. Asa McGray went to Barrington from the same State. 
He belonged to the Freewill Baptist body. They each 
succeeded in gaining adherents to their respective Socie- 
ties. In June, 1837, ministers and delegates of both 
bodies met on Cape Sable Island and organized the Free 
Christian Baptist Denomination, as an amalgamation of 



142 History of Yarmouth. 

both ; and finally, in 1866, this body agreed to be known 
by the name of Feee Baptists. There are I believe eleven 
Free Baptist churches in this County, possessing over a 
dozen meeting houses, and served by four resident minis- 
ters, besides occasional assistance. 

Closely connected with public worship, is the matter of 
Sunday Schools. It is evident that any number of chil- 
dren brought together to be taught gives the idea of a 
School ; and, that a number of children brought together 
to be taught on Sundays, completes the general idea of a 
Sunday School. But although it would be impossible to 
go back to the time in the Christian era when children were 
not brought together to be taught on Sundays, this would 
hardly be the sense in which that expression has come to 
be understood. 

After carefal and extended enquiries on the subject, I 
believe that the first Sunday School proper in this County 
was opened in Lower Chebogue by the Rev. Abel Cutler in 
1817 ; Mr. John S. Miller establishing a similar institu- 
tion, which was more of the nature of a Prayer Meeting 
however, about the same time or a little after, in Nehe- 
miah Patch's loft. The next was opened in the old Milton 
school house, which stood on the site of the late Herbert 
Huntington's house, about the year 1823. Then in 1827 
another was commenced in the old Methodist Chapel, which 
lasted till 1834, when it lapsed. In January of 1835 the 
Rev. Alfred Gilpin opened one in the old Trinity Church ; 
an ofi'shoot from which established itself at Upper Che- 
bogue, now Arcadia, in the fall of the same year. All 
those Schools had been conducted on the Union principle : 



History of Yarmouth. 143 

but, in the month of August, 1836, the Methodist element 
withdrew from the Trinity Church school, and formed a 
denominational school. About the same time, Mr. Joseph 
Ellis, who had been prominently concerned with nearly all 
those institutions, opened one in his own house : and, 
shortly afterwards, another was commenced by the Bap- 
tists.* After this period, they continued to spring up 
everywhere ; until now there is no section in the County 
where there is not one. 

The first structure raised in the County for Sunday 
School purposes was that which was erected by the Episco- 
palians in 1840, and was the same building which now 
stands, newly restored, on the site of the old Parish Church. 

* Facts recorded by the late Joseph. Ellis. 



CHAPTER XTII. 

Social progress from isoo. negro slaves, new settle^ 

MENTS. SALMON RIVER. KEMPTVILLE. BEAVER RIVER. 

OHIO. HEBRON. CARLETON. TEMPERANCE AND TOTAL 

ABSTINENCE SOCIETIES. GREAT FIRE OF 1820. 

tHEN the Loyalists left Shelburne, in several cases 
they brought with them to Tusket and Yarmouth, 
their 

NEGRO SLAVES. 

They had accompanied their masters from New York and 
other cities in the States. In many cases families of them 
lived in their masters' houses, or in other houses provided 
for them ; and there is reason to believe, that as far as 
work or usage or houses or clothing were concerned,' they 
were better cared for, and probably knew they were, than 
many of those who had been liberated. After all allow- 
ance however has been made for kindness and considera- 
tion, the institution remained. In this connection, an 
interesting trial took place in 1787. in Shelburne, Jesse 
Gray, of Argyle, had sold to William Mangham, a colored 
woman named Mary Postill, for one hundred bushels of 
potatoes. Gray was trie<i on a charge of misdemeanor. 
The wrong was not the sale of a slave, but the sale of a 
slave of which he was not the real owner. Proofs having 
been brought forward that she had really belonged to Gray 



History of Yarmouth. 145 

in one of the Southern States ; the Court at once acquitted 
him, and she became as much the property of Mangham 
for a hundred bushels of potatoes as a horse would for the 
same consideration. 

But in the course of a very few years, public opinion in this 
Province reprobated the practice. Notwithstanding, as late 
as the years 1801 and 1802 there were several negro slaves 
bought and sold in this County. As one of the last traces 
of that institution I here insert one of these bills of sale :-^- 

" Know all men by these Presents that I, A. B., of the Township of 
" Yarmouth for and in consideration of the sum of thirty-nine pounds in 
" hand paid to me by C D., have bargained and sold to him and by these 
" presents do grant bargain and sell to him the said 0. D. a certain Negro 
" Boy named Jack, about seven years of age, born in my house from a 
"wench and a man, both my sole property; and I, the said A. B., do 
" promise to warrant and defend the said Negro Boy Jack against all lawful 
" claim or claims of any person or persons whatsoever. 

" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty- 
" third day of December, 1801. " A. B. 

"Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of 

"E. F. 
" G. H. 
"J.K." 

In addition to this bill of sale there are several others, 

one of which was of a young negro woman twenty-eight, who 

was sold the next year, 1802, for £,4Q. That same coloured 

woman — together with her husband, was liberated by her 

master Colonel Bond, and is still living near Weymouth. 

She is therefore now more than a hundred years old. From 

freed slaves, left in many cases in destitution and utter 

inability and indisposition to provide for themselves, the 

SALMON RIVER SETTLEMENT 

in this Township originated.* "With a few exceptions the 
settlement has not been ornamental to the County, and 

* By the Census of 1871 there are 257 coloured people in the County. 



146 History of Yarmouth. 

scarcely useful ; but it may be, that part of the blame of 
this state of affairs ought to be borne by that portion of the 
population, who have been themselves taught the blessings 
of industry, sobriety and useful knowledge. 

The older settled parts of the County, have so far en- 
grossed our attention, only because they were all that existed. 
But early in the nineteenth century, the healthy mark of 

NEW GROUND 

being opened up claims some notice : the principal of 
which are Kemptville, Beaver Kiver, Hebron, and Carleton. 
The first settler at 

EEMPTVILLE 

was Abner Andrews ; who, in taking up his abode in that 
place, had advanced several miles beyond the extreme 
inhabited point. The Commissioner of Lands, the late 
Dr. Farish, laid out this pioneer settler, Mr. Andrews' land 
in 1821 ; and, at that time, the embryo settlement was 
named Kemptville, in honour of the then Governor Sir 
James Kempt. 

BEAVEE RIVEB, 

like Salmon River, Eel Brook, Smelt Brook, and other 
waters bearing names, arising from the natural products or 
inhabitants,-^probably received its name from abounding 
in beavers, either at, or before, the arrival of the English. 
The settlement, — which at first took the name of the river, 
but part of which has been named more lately Maitland, 
after Sir Peregrine Maitland, a former Governor, — is an 
offshoot from Yarmouth of the old settled families of the 
Raymonds, Comings, Crosbys, Perrys and others ; all 
names well known in the County. This village suffered 
very severely from 



History of Yarmouth. 147 

THE GREAT FIRE OP 1820. 

Independent of the havoc made in Clare Township, in 
which the Chapel was burnt, and the venerable Abbe 
Sigogne severely injured, the fire extended into this Town- 
ship and burnt up the houses, barns, mills, crops, stocks, 
and farming implements of 34 families. Grain, cattle, 
furniture, clothes, and everything combustible within the 
burnt district were all consumed. The magistrates of the 
Township of Yarmouth stated that, after due inquiry, " the 
"number of souls included in those families who are 
"turned out destitute and in want, is one hundred and 
" fifty."* The distresses of the sufferers enlisted, far and 
wide, the liveliest sympathy of the most practical kind. 
Large sums were subscribed in Halifax, St. John, Boston, 
and other places. Sir James Kempt proved himself a 
most . fatherly Governor. On receipt of the magistrates' 
authentic information, he caused one hundred great coats, 
two hundred pairs of stockings, and two hundred pairs of 
mitts to be sent from the Military stores : and for very 
many years the coats, which were conspicuous both for 
make and material, were the visible if mute reminders of 
the disaster. In the way of bedding also, he sent one 
hundred blankets, one hundred and fifty rugs, one hun- 
dred and fifty sheets, one hundred bed covers, one hundred 
bolsters, and fifty beds. The receipt of those articles, very 
inadequate, even with other assistance, but very acceptable — 
was acknowledged by a letter from the magistrates, who 
thanked him for 

"the yery kind and handsome manner in which his Excellency had 
•'bestowed it : and [they add] we are happy in saying that the public grant 

*Eeport dated September 15, 1820. 



148 History of Yarmouth* 

" made by your Excellency and his Majesty's Council, added to your owil 

" very liberal donation, and the contributions of many beneficent indiyidu- 

' ' als both in Halifax and elsewhere, will enable us to keep the destitute ill 

" a state of comparative comfort, until the fruits of the earth and the exer- 

" tions of another season, enable them to provide for themselves. We have 

"etc. 

" Benj. Barnard. 

"J.N, Bond. 

" H. G. FARisit. 

"John Bingay." 

Since that calamity the settlement has been very prosperous, 

and nearly every trace of it has long since passed away. 

There is a flourishing shipbuilding business, for which 

there are many facilities, and which, together with fishing 

and lumbering, are carried on. The settlement also 

deserves notice from the circumstance that here 

THE FIRST TEMPERANCE SOCIETY 

in Nova Scotia, or according to some, in North America, or 
according to others, in the world, was formed.* The pre- 
amble to the original list of names, — for at first there were 
no officers, — will best explain the motives and principles of 
those who joined the Society : — 

''beaver river TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. 

" We the undersigned firmly believing and most assuredly gathering 
" that the too great use of spirituous liquors is prejudicial to the body and 
" souls of mankind in general both spiritual and temporal, to remedy this 
" great and spreading evil, we therefore whose names are hereunto annexed 
" do for ever renounce the use of ardent or distilled spirituous liquors 
" except what may be taken as a medicine in case of sickness. And we 
" pray Almighty God to establish our hearts and strengthen our serious 
" resolutions. 

" April 25, 1829." 

Then follow the signatures. Shortly after, it was thought 

* The claims for the original suggestion of the idea are various and con- 
flicting ; and under the circumstances, it is difficult to do more than pro- 
duce documents. One name evidently much to be honoured in this con- 
nection, is that of the late Josiah Porter. 



History of Yarmouth. 149 

necessary to organize the Society and appoint officers for 
the more effectually carrying its objects into operation. 
The first officers were-^ 

President — Mr. Josiah Porter. 

Vice Presidents — Jonathan Raymond, and Jonathan 
Corning. 

Executive Committee — Daniel Raymond, Jabez Landers, 
William Parry, Daniel Corning, Ebenezer Corning, and 
David Parry.* 

This Parent Society has given birth to many children, 
who have done great good in their generation. 

OHIO. 

About fifty years ago, I believe, when there was a great 
rage for emigrating to Ohio, and several families had left 
for that then very distant El Dorado of the West, Nehe- 
miah and Benjamin Churchill, sons of Ezra, and grandsons 
of Lemuel of Chebogue, were smitten with the "Ohio fever," 
as it was called. Not being able to carry out their plans 
from some cause, they removed back into the woods with 
their families, several miles beyond the most distant set- 
tler at the " Ponds," as all the country above the mills at 
Milton was then called, and gave their farms the name of 
their wished-for western home ; which has thus become the 
name of the settlement. There is a good mill site in the 

* The oldest document connected witli this institution, is now in the 
County Museum. The preamble and the first sixty-eight names are in the 
hand-writing of the late John Wetmore, at that time a Schoolmaster at 
Beaver Eiver ; then follow seventy-four original signatures. The value of 
the paper has been seriously impaired from the fact that the dates have 
been tampered with. But a careful comparison of all the facts shovis first, 
that this institution was organized in 1829 ; and secondly, that the docu- 
ment in question was copied in 1830 from the true original, which has, 
very probably, been long since lost. 



150 History of Yarmouth. 

centre of the village. At first the settlers were engaged in 
lumbering, — but more lately the people have been chiefly 
occupied in farming and bringing cordwood to the Yarmouth 
market. The name of 

HEBRON 

was given to that settlement, as before said, by Captain 
Landers. That was his property, where he hoped to spend 
the remainder of his days — the centre of his shipbuilding 
operations. His house was at first apart from all others ; 
but, in the course of years, the junction of the Ohio road 
■with the main post road became a desirable place of busi- 
ness, and was called "Hebron Corner." As the village 
extended beyond this spot, the latter half of the name was 
left out, and the whole settlement finally became Hebron. 
Having no fishing, lumbering, or milling privileges, the 
community has become manufacturing, — chiefly tanning 
and boot and shoe making. The number of persons depend- 
ing on this industry being about three hundred, and the 
gross amount of Capital engaged in a year's business being 
about $200,000. 
With regard to 

CARLETON, 

it may be said that Mr. Daniel Kaymond was the first 
settler in this part of the County. It is true that twenty 
years before, a number of persons, — the tradition says 
nine — residing on the river above and about Tusket vil- 
lage, formed a co-partnery for milling purposes. They 
carried out 'part of their plan only, and did little more than 
effect a clearing in the neighbourhood of " Nine Partners' 
Falls," — a name given, as some say, in allusion to the 
partnery : or, as others again say, with reference to the 



Histoid of Yarmouth. 151 

physical features of the place. But neither alternative is 
very conclusive. Mr. Raymond built a mill in the centre 
of the present village, 'and a year or two after he settled 
there he was followed by a number of Chebogue families, 
viz.: Hiltons, Dennis, Crawley and Perry, who, together 
with others, have succeeded in establishing one of the most 
thriving settlements in the County. 

Carleton was also formerly named Temperance — a name 
which is not yet wholly extinct. The origin of it was this : 
The first settlers saw the evils of ijitemperance, and agreed 
to eschew, as a heverage, all kinds of intoxicating liquors. 
Total abstinence was not, as yet, their idea, and to assist 
them in their most excellent design, they gave the settle- 
ment the name of ^'Temperances There is no fact more 
capable of demonstration than that the early settlers of this- 
County were far from being teetotallers. Drinking was a 
standing institution, equally and impartially applied to all 
sorts of occasions, serious and light. No visit was made, 
nor enterprise undertaken, without the aid of this powerful 
auxiliary. Births, weddings and funerals, were all suitable 
occasions and always in order ; and the custom extended to 
both sexes. No road could be built, nor frame of a Church 
raised, without rum.* In the earliest days of Yarmouth 
the amount of rum sold to the half starving people was 

* Au item of CKpense in raising the frame of a place of worsliip, early in 
this century, was 10/ for rum, I suppose no workman would have assisted 
in that, or any other work, without his grog. 

The well-known "More Eum Brook," on the Tusket road, is said to 
have received its name from the circumstance that when the road was being 
cut out the rum gave out, when the workmen got to that point. They 
refused to go on till the needful was forthcoming. The surveyor in charge 
of the work told them to drink from the Brook, till they got more — hence 
the name " More Eum Brook." 



152 History of Yarmouth. 

simply enormous ; and, in some of the accounts rendered 
by. the traders of the day, liquor of some kind forms every 
second or third item. In one account of thirty-eight items, 
twenty-eight are for rum, toddy, cider or flip. Without 
palliating or excusing the intemperate language of many 
extreme total abstinence advocates, we see from those facts 
what great necessity there was for such prudent conduct as 
that of the pioneer settlers of Carleton. 

Whilst speaking of the rise and naming of new set- 
tlements, there can be no more suitable opportunity for 
appending a list of names of well-known places, traced back 
to their earliest mention, in one way or another : — 

Names. Dates. Names. Dates. 

Seallslands 1604 Broad Brook 1767 

CapeForchue 1604 Sunday Point 1767 

Cape Forchue Harbour... 1604 Cove 1767 

Chegoggin Point 1630 Little Eiver 1767 

Pubnico 1705 Town Point (Chebogue) 1768 

Chebogue Harbour 1735 Bunker's Island 1768 

Tusket Islands 1735 Smelt Creek 1771 

Yarmouth 1759 Scott's Island 1771 

Fish Point 1762 Pitch Hill 1771 

Elder's Head 1762 Argyle 1771 

Salt Pond 1763 EockyNook 1771 

Chebogue Point 1763 Rabbit Island (Chebogue) 1773 

Ponds 1766 Crocker's Point 1774 



CHAPTEE XVni. 

POLITICAL AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS. CONFEDERA- 
TION. INCORPORATION. JUDICIAL HISTORT OP 
THE COUNTY. COURTS. COMMON PLEAS. 
OUR SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL-MASTERS. 

% N taking up the political thread from 1800, we are for 
many years met with a practical illustration of the 
maxim that "least said is soonest mended," and of that 
other " happy is the Country that has no history," — for 
then there will be at least peace and quietness. For fifty 
years, with the exception of the election of Mr. Nathan 
Utley in 1800, and that of Samuel Marshall in 1812, who 
died in 1814, Mr. Poole was regarded as the hereditary 
occupant of the red bench. In the House his words were 
few, but, we are told, pointed ; and, even in 1834, when the 
Warehousing Act was extended to Yarmouth, he took part 
in the debate on the subject ; although, through the infir- 
mity of years, his remarks were unheard, except by those 
who were near him. In the year 1836 

THE COUNTY OF YARMOUTH WAS SET OFF 

with its present limits, from that of Shelburne ; and, from 
that date until 1867, three representatives were sent from 
the County, viz. : — one for the County, and one for each 
Township. The first three representatives under the new 
arrangement, were Herbert Huntington for the County ; 



154 History of Yarmouth. 

Eeuben Clements for the Township of Yarmouth; and 
Simon D'Entremont for the Township of Argyle. Mr. 
Herbert Huntington was the son of Miner Huntington who 
came to Yarmouth about the year 1784. Miner was a 
surveyor by profession ; for many years he was Prothono- 
tary, an of&ce which he was the first to hold. He was also 
a magistrate. He died in the year 1839. 

Herbert Huntington, who held the office of Prothonotary 
after his father's death,* was a man of uncommon penetra- 
tion, and robust intellect, brusque in manner, but acknow- 
ledged by all, to have been foremost in the rank of the 
most fearless and incorruptible of Nova Scotian politicians. 
He was three times elected County member, viz. : in 1836, 
1840, and 1844, having before served for several years as 
member of the old County. The Huntington family 
Memoir contains an article highly eulogising him, and we 
read in the same work that, " in a tribute to his memory, 
^' found in the Provincial Magazine, and still later in the 
" Yarmouth JiferaW, are found most flattering testimonials 
" of his worth." The esteem in which he was helok is better 
illustrated by the public offices and marks of honour which 
were conferred on him, than by any words of mine. Be- 
sides his services as member of the Nova Scotia Legislature 
he was appointed in 1830 by the House of. Assembly, one 
of two delegates, to lay before' the home Government the 
grievances of the Province. In 1848, he was chosen one of 

* This office after having been long and honourably held by J. W. H, 
Howley, Esq., has descended to the third generation, — Mr. James Hunting- 
ton being the present incumbent. Samuel Huntington, one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence, and president of the first Continental 
Congress, was a near relative of Miner Huntington. 



History of Yarmouth. 155 

the Executive Council; and in 1849 he was appointed 

Financial Secretary. The following inscription on his 

monument — an unpolished block of native granite — tells 

its own tale : — 

Hbkbert Huntington, 

represented his native County, 

Yarmouth, ^ 

as member of the House of Assembly, 

for 20 years, 

with singular zeal, ability and disinterestedness ; 

serving part of that period as 

Member of the Executive Council 

of Nova Scotia, 

and Financial Secretary, 

The Legislature 

of a grateful Country, by unanimous vote, 

raised this monument 

to his memory. 
Born 1800— Died 1851. 

His election was not always uncontested ; and particularly 
in that of 1847, he fought a hard gained battle with ano- 
ther gentleman, long and honourably known in this County, 
and identified from an early period with all the elements 
of its prosperity. I mean the late E. W. B. Moody, who 
also contested an election with Mr. Thomas Killam in 1851. 
Mr. Moody was the grandson of the celebrated Loyalist 
Colonel James Moody, who published his adventures in the 
war, and who was on terms of considerable intimacy with 
the Duke of Kent, and Governor Wentworth. Mr. Moody 
was born in Weymouth in 1799. He removed to Yar- 
mouth in 1817 ; and here, for upwards of forty years, he 
carried on an extensive business which was marked through- 
out by intelligence, probity, and liberality. For thirty-five 
years he was Lloyd's agent for the district now contained 
in Digby, Yarmouth, and Shelburne Counties, the respon- 



156 History of Yarmouth. 

sible duties of which were discharged with great ability and 
uprightness ; and which, since his death, have been ably 
discharged by his son J. W. Moody, Esq. He was Gustos 
when he died, which was in 1863 : and the high esteem in 
which he was held was testified by the community at the 
time in every possible way. He was succeeded as Gustos 
by the late W. H. Moody, Esq., long known as a valuable 
citizen, an honourable merchant, and an unbending magis- 
trate. He died in the month of January, 1873. 

Simon D'Entremont, who was elected to the parliament 
of 1836 as member for the Argyle Township, was a son of 
Benoni D'Entremont, 

THE FIEST FRENCH MAGISTRATE UNDER ENGLISH RULE, 

and also a Judge in the Inferior Gourt of Common Pleas. 
Simon was the first French member of the Nova Scotia 
Assembly, as well as the first French Collector of Customs. 
The County and Township retained the same represen- 
tatives for 1840 and 1844; that of Argyle electing Mr. 
John Eyder, a well known and highly respectable man, 
who represented the Township till the year 1860. That 
constituency then chose J. V. N. Hatfield, one of the de- 
scendants of the well known Hatfield family, who took 
a very active loyal part in the Eevolutionary War. The 
numerous and prosperous branches of the family now in 
this County are descended from Job, James, Jacob, and 
Abraham Marsh Hatfield, who came first from the States 
in 1783 to Shelburne, and subsequently, about 1785, to 
Tusket. Early in the seventeenth century, the family had 
settled in Elizabethtown, N. J., to which their forefathers 
had emigrated, from Durham in England. 



history of Yarmouth. 15f 

The parliament of 1852 saw changes in the representa* 
tion of both the County and Township of Yarmouth, Mr* 
Thos. Killam having been then elected for the County, and 
Mr. Jesse Shaw for the Township. Mr. Killam, a grand-* 
son of John, the first of the family, who came here in 
1766, and settled at Chegoggin, was a man whose career is 
yet fresh in the memory of the public. From his election 
till his death in 1868, he represented this County ; first in 
the local Legislature, and after the Union, in the Dominion 
Parliament, a seat still held by his son, Frank Killam, 
Esq* However widely divergent from the views of others 
his political ideas were, all alike credit him with having 
been an honest, upright man ; considerate and forbearing 
towards all indebted to him ; and liberal in his support of 
all local improvements. 

In the parliament of 1856, Nathan Moses, Esq, suc- 
ceeded Mr. Shaw in the representation of the Township of 
Yarmouth ; and in that of 1860, the late W. H. Townsend 
occupied the seat, which, in the year 1863, he lost by the 
return of Mr. G. S. Brown ; but which he regained when 
that member resigned his seat in 1865, Argyle being 
represented by Mr. Isaac S. Hatfield. In 1867, Messrs. 
W. H. Townsend and John K. Eyerson were elected mem- 
bers for the County as a ivhole; the separate representation 
of the Townships having been abolished. At the next gen- 
eral election in 1871, Messrs. Townsend and Gay ton were 
elected ; this being the first general election under the 
Ballot Act. In 1873, Mr, Townsend resigned, and Mr. J. 
K. Eyerson was returned in his stead ; and lastly, in 1875, 
Messrs. Gayton and John Lovitt were elected. 



158 History of Yarmouth. 

Divest the political history of the County of all per- 
sonal details, and, to many, it is uninteresting. Better it 
should be so than that we should erect a memorial of 
strifes. Those frequent seatings and unseatings, which 
we have hut enumerated, gave rise, in many cases, to the 
strongest political animus; and are the concentrated essence 
of many a stirring scene, and many a doubtful memory. 
But I have some ground for saying that since the " good 
old times" of the Shelburne County elections, when "man 
to man, and steel to steel," — party against party, — ^moved 
from polling place to polling place; when the election 
lasted sometimes for a whole week, and excitement culmi- 
nated as the end drew on, the people of this County have 
been conspicuous for quiet and orderly elections ; and, in 
unpleasant cases, allowance being made for some insignifi- 
cant exceptions, with short memories. 

There is one political matter however, to pass over which 
in silence — although the time to write the whole has not 
yet come — would argue either ignorance or fearfulness. I 
inean 

THE QUESTION OF CONFEDEKATION ; 

than which no subject ever more deeply stirred this Pro- 
vince or County. 

The principle of Confederation, in some form or other, 
was for years before the union with Canada, a favourite 
theme with many politicians, including the late Herbert 
Huntington and Joseph Howe.* 

* The following extract from a private letter of the late H. Huntington, 
referring to the contemplated repeal of the union between Nova Scotia and 

Cape Breton, about the year 1840, is to the purpose 

" I am for a general confederation of all these Colonies. We are quite too 
"feeble to obtain justice as we now are." 



History of Yarmouth, 159 

In the Provijicial Parliament of 1866, GoTernment intro- 
duced, and carried a measure, uniting this Province with 
the Canadas. Whatever was the popular idea or feeling" 
on the subject hefore the bill was passed, no sooner was it 
carried, than numerous public meetings were held in 
the various Counties ; the matter was disciissed and public 
opinion defined. In popular language, the community 
became divided into Confederates and Anti- Confederates, 
Bat a more accurate analysis of the several classes of 
opinion would be : — 

1st. Confederates, who were in favour of the measure, 
and of the way in which it was carried °, 

2nd. Confederates in favour of the measure, but opposed 
to the manner in which it was carried ; 

3rd. Anti- Confederates, opposed to the measure and its 
carriage; and, 

4th. A very small minority in favour of Annexation, 

The results of the public meetings referred to were, that 
opposition to the bill became more and more defined ; 
repeal was loudly called for from all parts of the Province, 
but from nowhere more strongly than from Yarmouth ; 
and, deputations more or less fully representing the 
Province, were sent to England, to protest against what 
was looked upon as a violation of the principles of popular 
Government. 

There were but very few of the first classes of those four 
in this County ; and, without pronouncing one way or the 
other, when we reflect, we cannot but admire the handful 
who stood up for a principle in which they believed, against 
overwhelming odds. In the small minority in favor of the 



160 History of Yarmouth. 

measure in this County, there were, however, several influx 
ential citizens ; and, when the day of nomination came on, 
they selected John S. Hatfield, Esq., as their candidate, not 
so much with any hope or prospect of his being returned, 
as with the intention of representing the existing Confed- 
erate element in the Electorate. Mr. Hatfield was sup- 
ported by rather more than a hundred electors, out of a 
whole electoral body of nearly two thousand. And when 
we say this, we best exhibit, and that without words, the 
intense dislike with which the people had been brought to 
view a measure, which, but for the mode of proceeding 
adopted by the Government as the opposing party alleged, 
might possibly have been passed as a pojndar measure. 

The persuasion that this Township could best attend to 
its own special interests, if it were a corporate body, together 
with other influences, resulted in that condition being 
assumed in 1855 ; but unmanageable divergences of public 
opinion in certain sections, on social, political, and financial 
questions, having soon sprung up, the community, after a 
three years trial of the Municipal form of government, 
decided, by a considerable majority, to have the Act 
repealed so far as it applied to the Township of Yarmouth. 

Once more, to keep a clear woof and web, we must return. 
We traced the working of our social system, and as far as 
scanty and trivial details would admit, our Civil institutions 
up till the end of the last century » After 1784, the County 
Town being Shelburne, the sessions of the Supreme Court 
were held there; but after 1836, at the division of the 



History of Yarmouth. 161 

County, alternately at Yarmouth and Tusket, public con- 
venience seeming to require this arrangement. 

The number of Justices now in the County is about 
ninety ; whilst for that whole district there were only 

FIVE ACTING JUSTICES IN 1813, 

whose official duties were so laborious that they applied for 
an increase of the bench. The five who acted were : 
Samuel S. Poole, Joseph Norman Bond, Henry Greggs 
Parish, James Lent, and Benoni D'Entremont. Two . 
others had been nominated in 1810, viz. : Joshua Frost 
and Nathaniel Richards; but, for some reason, they 
declined to take the oaths of office. The Justices 
assembled, and recommended James* Bond, Abram Lent, 
Joshua D'Entremont, Daniel Frost, Jacob Kelley, and 
Thomas Dane, "as fit and proper persons for the said 
office." Similarly laborious were the duties of the Jus- 
tices of the 

INFERIOR COURT OF COMMON PLEAS; 

especially as all three of them, viz. : Samuel S. Poole, 
James Lent, and J. Norman Bond were acting Magistrates 
besides. They also recommended for this inferior Judge- 
ship, Messrs. H. G. Farish and Benoni D'Entremont. 
Both requests were seen to be so reasonable, that their 
petition was granted at once by the Council.* Mr. James 
Lent, who was here recommended to a Commission as Jus- 
tice, was one of the old Loyalists. He had held a commis- 
sion as early as 1779, in the King's Militia Volunteers, and 
was one of the first who settled Tusket, — all who bear his 

* Eecord of General Sessions held at Tusket, April 1813, and Council 
Minutes, May 13, 1813. 



162 



History of Yarmouth. 



name there being his descendants. He died in 1838 at 
the advanced age of eighty-four. 

The Court of Common Pleas, to which we have made 
frequent reference, was finally abolished in 1841 ; the 
Supreme Court having been opened for the first time, in 
the present County, in 1834. 

The following lists show the successive Justices of the 
Court of Common Pleas, Custodes, and Shebiffs, who 
have held office since the settlement of the County. 

JUSTICES OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. 

John Crawley, 

Saml. S. Poole, 

James Lent, 

J. N. Bond, 

Benoni D'Entremont, 
Nathan Utley, 
H. G. Farish. 

CUSTODES. 

John Crawley, \ 

Sam. S. Poole, Yarmouth 

H. G. Farish, and Argyle. 

E. W. B. Moody, ^ 

W. H. Moody, ) 



Nathan Moses, 
Nathan Hilton, 
Abram Lent, . 
Israel Harding, 

SHERIFFS. 

Elishama Eldridge, 
J. Norman Bond, 
Eleazer Hibbard, 
Thomas Dane, 
Samuel Tedford, 
George Hunter, 



^ Yarmouth. 



Argyle. 



Deputies 
before 1836. 



History of Yarmouth. 163 

John Bingay, 
Eobert S. Eakins, 
Joseph B. Bond, Principals 
J. Shaw, since 1836. 

W. B. Townsend, 
W. K. Dudman, 
And to these may he added the Judges op the Court of 

Probate : 

S. S. Poole, 

B. Barnard, 

John Forman, 

W. H. Keating, 

T. V. B. Bingay, 

James Murray. 
Closely connected with the Officers of Courts, is the matter 
of Buildings erected for. the purpose of carrying out justice. 
The Court House and Jail at Tusket, which was the first 
built for the purpose in the County, was completed in 1805. 
Before that time the Sessions met, as regards Tusket, at 
some place of business ; and at Yarmouth, sometimes in 
a building known early in the century as the Court House, 
which stood at the north-east corner of the old Episcopal 
Church Lot, and which was removed about 1805 by the 
late David McConnel, and sometimes in "Eichan's long- 
room." The Yarmouth Court House and Jail, which was 
built in 1820, gave place in 1863, in the first instance, to a 
commodious Court House, and in 1865 to a substantial 
Jail. The original Tusket Court House was twenty feet 
long; in 1833 its length was doubled, and about 1870, it 
was trebled, — the building being now sixty feet long. 

The increasing business of this community is, I think, 
curiously illustrated in connection with the number of gen- 



164 History of Yarmouth. 

tlemen of the Bar. For more than thirty years there was 
no Barrister in the County, and for more than thirty years 
after that there was room for only one at a time ; whereas 
now there are ten resident Barristers who are all, more or 
less directly, engaged in professional duties, — and six of 
whom have been admitted within the last ten years. I 
have ventured to set down this increase to the account of a 
proportional increase in the amount of business ; although 
I am aware of the impression, which we all hope, and I 
believe, is wrong, that it is to be traced to a growing spirit 
of litigation. I here append the names, together with the 
dates of arrival, or of admission to practice, of all the 
Barristers who have practised, or do still practice, in this 
County : — 

ARRIVAL OR . ARRIVAL OR 

^^"^- ADMISSION. ^^"^- ADMISSION. 

John Prout 1795 C. B. Owen, Q. C 1852 

James Buchanan 1809 S.H. Pelton, Q. C 1867 

John Lawson 1820 J. W. Bingay 1869 

John Forman 1824 Thos. E. Corning 1869 

W. H, Keating 1832 S. B. Murray ', 1870 

H. A. Grantham, Q. C...1834 T. B. Flint 1871 

T. V. B. Bingay 1835 George Bingay 1874 

James Murray 1841 

Leaving the Political and Civil, we now trace the 

EDUCATIONAL ELEMENT , 

from its very small beginning, at the point indeed where 
the stream is so small as not to be seen, until it has be- 
come a comparatively great river, fertilizing the remotest 
sections of the County. 

A school before the year 1800 was an institution, for the 
more part, known only by name. There were indeed from 
time to time private schools on a very limited scale, which 



History of Yarmouth. 165 

aimed at teacliing the three E's, and little more. The 
oldest school house I have heard of in the County, was one 
which stood on the site of the old Episcopal Church from 
about 1790 till about 1805. This building was also used 
as the Court House till it became too small, — when the 
Court afterwards met, as before said, in "Eichan's Tavern," 
which stood at the head of Marshall's Lane. 

The first schoolmaster in Argyle, of whom any record is 
preserved, was Mr. John McKinnon, son of Captain Eanald, 
who was appointed ^to that office by the Sessions of 1812. 
As late as the year 1811, there were only three schools in 
the Township of Yarmouth. In that year, however, a 
Government commission dated July 29th, was issued to 
the Eev. Eanna Cossit, Samuel S. Poole, and Joseph Nor- 
man Bond, Esquires, appointing them Trustees of the 
Yaemouth Grammar School — the first institution of the 
kind in this County, and somewhat hard to beat even now, 
for as early as the year 1819, it had on its roll, thirteen 
boys engaged in the study of Latin. The first who was 
appointed teacher of this school was Mr. Poole, who, in 
order to become a candidate for the mastership, resigned 
his office as Trustee. He held the position till October 
1815, after which the Eev. E. Milner officiated as master 
till 1819, when the Eev. T. A. Grantham took charge of it.- 
But through various causes, by the year 1830, the Grammar 
School had become a thing of the past. The next institu- 
tion in the interests of the higher branches, was started in 
1836, and was known as the ** Yarmouth Education 
Society." Funds were to be raised by voluntary contribu- 
tions and by tuition fees. This Society built the Academy, 



166 History of Yarmouth. 

and it was assisted by a Provincial grant to the extent of 
£130 annually. 

The Grammar School and the Education Society with its 
Academy, provided in some measure for the wants of all 
who lived in the vicinity of the County Town. But for the 
great bulk of the population, there were no school houses, 
text books, or suitable masters. Those who offered them- 
selves as teachers were frequently men of intemperate 
habits ; and who, when their evil deeds persecuted them in 
one place, fled to another, although indeed, honourable 
exceptions are not wanting. In 1811, when the late Dr. 
Farish was appointed Superintendent, there were but four 
schools in the County. In the year 1826 all the children 
attending school in the two Townships, were 120. By the 
year 1848, there had been a very great improvement, there 
being in the Yarmouth Township alone, thirty-six school 
houses, in which an aggregate of seventeen hundred chil- 
dren were taught ; and, although none of the schools were 
free, still there were three hundred pupils who received the 
benefit of a free education.* 

AT THE PRESENT DAT, 

apart from private schools, there are in the County sixty- 
five Public School houses, most of them being in excellent 
condition, and furnished with all kinds of necessary appara- 
tus, such as text books, maps, globes, and blackboards, — t 

*By a provision in the School Law of 1828, which was a greater step forward 
in the cause of education than even the law of 1864, there was a proportion 
of the scholars who, under certain conditions, received their education free. 

tAs an example of the uncommon completeness of the schools in the County 
in this respect, it is worthy of note, that in the report of 1874 there were in 
the schools 15,000 square feet of blackboard, giving an average of 240 feet to 
each school ; or 127 feet per school more than in the city of Halifax, which 
are far iu advance of those of any County in the Province, except Yarmouth. 




>- 
< 

UJ 



History of Yarmouth. 167 

accommodating 4,500 pupils ; and presided over by eighty 
teachers, holding Government certificates. The value of 
Public School property in the County is, in the aggregate, 
nearly |90,000. Whatever objections the present system 
may be thought to lie under, or grievances to which in 
individual cases it may give rise, the testimony of our eyes, 
and the careful, moderate reports of the Government 
Inspector prove, that at no time were the means for educa- 
ting our children so complete ; so able to bear favourable 
comparison; or to stand critical examination. We here 
insert a view of the Seminary, a building which to some 
extent has served as a model for several structures which 
have been raised since the passing of the new Law. This 
building cost $20,000, independent of the grounds. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

LITEEATURE. LITERARY REMAINS. THE PRESS. 

LOSELY connected with the subject of education, is 
that of 

GENERAL LITERATURE, AND THE ARTS,. 

which both aHke tend to develope the higher elements of 
our being. Literary proficiency, such as makes authors, 
men, in the phrase of Lord Bacon, of full reading, was 
certainly not to have been expected in the first settlers of 
this County. Theirs was, for the more part, a hard life 
of daily toil, and a constant struggle for bread. And an 
examination of early records will convince the most scepti- 
cal that whilst shrewdness and ability were abundantly 
exemplified, Caligraphy and Orthography were compara- 
tively lost arts to the majority, and but dimly perceived by 
the few.* The monuments that have been left are at once 

* From this point of view, the following items collected from various 
sources, are more amusing to read, than they were easy to decipher, and 
would possibly puzzle some of our smartest clerks. 
To 2 Arthen platters — 
3 podden pans — 
5 skwars glas — 
1 lb Tabackah — 
1 yearde of teckling burge — 

1 cain of selk. 

2 Bushels of Turnopes & Taters— 
200 shongal nails — 

1 Bush, of Ry & Engon — 

1 yd. Bleu bays — 

2 yards gren fries — 
1 Bockit pale — 
1 Beveret hat. 



History of Yarmouth. 169 

few and uninviting, unless it were for sucli purposes as 
that in which we are now engaged. A marked exception 
in favour of the Rev. Jonathan Scott, must however be 
made. His very brief record of social and church matters, 
was written in a good round hand, itself indicative of a 
careful, painstaking man. The 

FEINTED LITERAEY EEMAINS 

of an early date of any interest have already been referred 
to as fully as necessary. Mr. Alline's work published in 
1781, and Mr. Scott's in 1784 have become very scarce, 
and are but rarely met with. Their effects alone remain. 
When we come down to a period of fifty years after the 
first settlement, we have some poetical remains of Mrs. 
Fletcher, daughter of Captain Ranald McKinnon of Argyle. 
She was naturally a talented woman ; who had cultivated 
the habit of writing, and the productions of her pen, pub- 
lished and unpublished, discover uncommon ability and 
imagination. This lady is more than once referred to and 
quoted in Murdoch's History of Nova Scotia ; and of one of 
her earliest productions, — " To an absent husband " — the 
Dublin Literary Gazette says "it is worthy of the pen of 
" Goldsmith ; and its simple, natural and exquisite ideas 
" strongly remind us of the compositions of that charming 
** Poet." As I believe it has never been published in this 
County, I append it in this place : — 

TO AN ABSENT HUSBAND. 

Say, ye, whose breasts each softer feeling know, — 

Whose hearts with love can throb, with friendship glow, — 

Has language power ideas to convey 

Of half the force of Joy's oppressive sway ? 

Say in what terms th' emotions are expressed, 

When sudden joy o'ercomes the throbbing breast, 



170 History of Yarmouth. 

When from the fading cheek the roses fly, 
And light and lustre quit the languid eye ? 
Such were the feelings which my bosom knew, 
When first thy welcome letter met my view ; 
The glow of transport fired my thrilling breast, 
And lavish tears expressed that transport best — 
Emphatic tears, which eloquently speak, 
When every power of language is too weak ! 
How have I chid the tardy hours away 
Through many a lengthened night and lingering day. 
Which, as their leaden flight they slowly wing. 
To me no joy, from thee no tidings bring ! 
Ah, friend beloved ! while thy hard fate conveys 
Where suns solstitial dart their fiery rays, 
Where countless deaths each horrid form assume, 
And War's dire terrors add a deeper gloom ; — • 
Ah ! what avails it, that for me the gale. 
Pregnant with health, soft breathes along the vale ? 
Health has for me no charms, while, far away. 
You sink unnerved 'neath Phoebus' burning ray, 
Tired of my thoughts to books for aid I fly : 
That comfort onoe they gave, they now deny. 
The plaintive tale of well-feigned woe I read, 
But sigh to find my sorrows those exceed, 
For works of stern philosophy I quit 
The rose-strewed paths of poetry and wit ; 
Oft mark, with Locke, how young ideas grow, 
Or with Linnaeus range all nature through ; 
Divide, in classes, all the Summer's bloom. 
Or, doubtful, puzzle with the sceptic Hume, 
Alas ! not long can these my thoughts engage : 
Attention wanders from the tiresome page ; 
To distant climes Imagination flies, 
While Memory brings thy form before my eyes. 
Yet not thy form in Memory's eye alone : 
I yiew, I mark it in thy blooming son ; 
His looks to thine such strong resemblance bear, 
Even in his voice I hear his father there ; 
With what increased delight each day I view 
Health tinge his cheek with her own rosy hue ; 
See sprightly vigor all his limbs supply, 
,See sweet good nature laughing iia his eye ; 
Mark dawning reason's bright, expanding ray, 
Beam on his infant mind, like opening day ! 
Oh ! while within my arms I hold him pressed, 



History of Yarmouth. 171 

Or clasp him fondly to my throbbing breast, 
While on his looks I oft with rapture gaze, 
Then sportive Fancy points out happier days — 
Those days, alas ! oft seen in Fancy's eye. 
Which yet the cruel Fates to me deny ! 
O haste, ye lingering hours ! fly swiftly round ! 
And come, fair Peace, with olive-chaplet crowned ! 
The war-tried world shall feel thy joyous reign, 
The Fury, Discord, quit th' ensanguined plain — 
The plain no more with horrid corses strewed. 
With slaughter covered, and with blood imbrued ; 
But white-robed Ceres shall resume her reign. 
And arts and commerce flourish once again ; 
And thou, O friend endeared by every tie ! 
Shalt hail a purer clime, a healthier sky : 
No more the fever's wasting flame shalt dread. 
With agues' chill recline thy languid head. 
Nor jaundice pale shall spread its sickly hue. 
But health shall string thy slackened nerves anew ; 
And, if these feelings yet have power to move, — 
If thy heart vibrate to the voice of love, — 
Then shall thy bosom feel the raptured glow, 
A father's love, a husband's fondness know ! 
Oh, when on that dear breast shall I recline. 
To part no more, and hold thee ever mine ! 

Notwithstanding its length, I have felt unwilling to give 
part only of this effusion. The whole ; or none. 

The late Dr. H. Gr. Parish was in the fore-front of solid 
literary attainments in*his day; and his monograph " Re- 
collections of Yarmouth" will always be highly valued as a 
correct statement of facts, and a good example of English 
composition. 

THE HISTOEY OP THE FOURTH ESTATE 

is not yet to be written, further than to briefly trace its 
rise and progress. The intelligent reader is as well able 
to form his own opinions of what the press now is, and 
what it may yet be, as the author. The first attempt to 
establish a paper in Yarmouth was made by a Mr, Young- 



172 History of Yarmouth. 

husband of Saint John, in June, 1827. But it died in the 
bud. The next was the more determined effort of Jackson 
& L'Estrange in 1831. They issued a Prospectus of great 
promise, and commenced business ; their paper being called 
the "Yakmouth Telegraph." It was a spirited attempt, 
the times considered, and in all probability had the field 
been larger, and all the circumstances more favourable, the 
result might have been different. The first piece of printing 
of any kind that was done in Yarmouth was a handbill by 
Jackson, and excellent as the state of this department in 
the art now is, we seldom see a more beautiful piece of 
work of the kind. 

In July, 1833, the Prospectus of the ''Yarmouth Her- 
ald" was issued by the present enterprising proprietor, 
Mr. Alexander Lawson ; and from that time till now, the 
Herald has continued, with some change of proprietor- 
ship, to be issued weekly. 

In August, 1839, the Prospectus and first number of the 
** Conservative" wais issued by Mr. Richard Huntington. 
Its principles were implied in its title, and explained in its 
motto, "The Queen, the Laws, and the People." In 1855 
he established and still continues to publish, the "Tri- 
bune." Mr. Huntington has the honour of having started 
the first semi-weekly paper in this Province. The spirit 
of the age, and the progress of the place, are alike illus- 
trated in the fact that since June the 20th, 1867, the Her- 
ald has been printed by steam. 

In addition to those newspaper ventures, there have been 
several others, more or less ephemeral. Two well worth 
naming are the "Courier" and the "Temperance Ga- 



History of YarTftouth. 173 

ZETTE." The former was commenced by Mr. John G-. 
Bingay in the fall of 1843, and it continued to be issued 
by him till 1848, when he sold out the establishment to 
Mr. Handley C. Flint, the publisher of the Temperance 
Gazette. The Coueier is, I believe, remembered for its 
Conservative principles, by all who took part in the contest 
of 1847, when the seats were contested by the late E. "W". 
B. Moody and John Saunders on the Conservative, against 
the late Herbert Huntington and Thomas Killam, on the 
Liberal side. 

It has been said that the sight of the first horse in Yar- 
mouth, excited as much curiosity and wonder as an elephant 
or a rhinoceros would in our day. Some similar wonder 
must have prevailed in the community, when the late Col. 
J. Norman Bond introduced 

THE FIRST PIANO, OR RATHER SPINET, 

about the year 1799. It would be almost impossible, unless 
a census were taken for the purpose, to say how many of 
that, and of that kind of instrument there are in the 
County. Musical societies of all kinds are notoriously 
variable; nor, are they remarkable for longevity. Many 
have existed in the County; many have ceased to exist, and 
many will probably exist again. The Yarmouth Choral 
Union has, however, exceeded the allotted span, and has 
safely reached its first climacteric. The general work of 
that society consists of the practice of the productions of the 
best composers ; whose works from time to time they present 
to their friends, their honorary members, and the public* 

* While speaking of music and singing, I think it not improper to say 
that the first teacher of Vocal Music in the County was Mr. Andrew But- 
ler, a member of a notably musical family. 



174 Bisiory of TarWiouth. 

Whilst speaking of literary matters, it is an honour 
which Yarmouth claims, that she established 

THE riEST PUBLIC LIBEAEY IN THE PEOVINOE, 

that at Milton having been formed in January, 1822— -nearly 
three years before the one in Halifax. The late Mr. John 
Moody Was the first ^President, an office which he held for 
many years.* This gentleman, so long and so well known 
to all the older inhabitants in the County, and especially the 
French, with whom he was a great favourite, was born in 
New York in 1779. After the evacuation of that city, his 
family went to Halifax where his father was well and honour- 
ably known, and where, till the close of the American war, 

*The following additional details of this Provincial Pioneer Literacy 
venture, may prove somewhat interesting : 

The Yarmouth Book Society was established January Ist, 1822 ; and the 
name was changed to that of the Milton Library in 1870. 
First office-bearef s elected January 1st, 1822 : — 

John Moody, President, (7 years). 
James B. Moody, Treasurer. 
Stayley Brown, Secretary. 
Herbert Huntington, Librarian. 



1829. Henry G. Parish, 


, President, (19 years)i 


1848. James B. Dane, President. 


Signatures to the first rules, 


passed January 1st, 1822 :^ 


John Moody, 




Henry G. Parish, 


James Starr, 




Jacob Tooker, 


Herbert Huntington, 




James Bond, 


John Brown, 




James B. Moody, 


Stayley Brown, 




Zachariah Chipman, 


Mary Fletcher, 




Abner W. Huntington, 


Samuel Corning, Jr., 




Zebina Shaw, 


Simeon Dewolf, 




Francis Armstrong, 


James B. Dane, 




Samuel Rust, 


Israel Harding, 




George Bingay, 


John Lawson, 




Charles J. Bond, 


Thomas Grantham, 




Joseph Shaw. 



Stisiory of Tarmouth. IfS 

he was himself engaged as an extensive merchant and 
auctioneer. In 1819, he came to Yarmouth, and again 
entered into business, in which he continued till about the 
yeai; 1823, when he took charge of what was called the 
Madeas School. From him many of the most prominent 
of the now senior generation received the elements of their 
education. On August 20th, 1868, at the laying of the 
Episcopal Church foundation stone, he acted as Grand 
Chaplain; being then the oldest man, the oldest mason, 
and the oldest churchman in the County. He died in 
1872 in the ninety-third year of his age. 

Books, paintings, and engravings, the very sight of 
which have a certain educating effect, were not the most 
common, or the most conspicuous objects in those primi- 
tive homes, set down in the rude clearings of the forest. 
In 1775 a trader lent a customer a book, which he entered 
in his ledger against him, thus : — 

Julj 19. To book lent Titled Heaven uppon Earth ye best friend &c. 

In carefully detailed inventories of deceased settlers of good 
property, there is no sign of books. And in the case of one 
known in his time as " a gentleman and a scholar," his 
minutely detailed effects include as his whole library : — 

One Family Bible £0 128. 6. 

Josephus' Works, 4 vols 14 

Sterne's Works, 7 Tols 1 4 6 and 

Every man his own Lawyer 5 

£3 6s> Od. 

. In 1816 an institution worthy of note in this connection, 

as tending to increase the number of copies, and extend 

the circulation of the word of God, was estabHshed in the 



176 History of Yarmouth, 

County, namely — the " Yabmouth and Akgyle (now the 
Yarmouth) Beanch of the Beitish and Foeeign Bibi^e 
Society;" which, since its institution, has been the means 
of circulating among us thousands of copies of the whole or 
parts of the Scriptures. It was formed at the house of Mr. 
Bartlett Gardner at Chebogue, on the 23rd January, 1816. 
The first officers were : — 

Peesident — James Lent, Senr. 

Vice-Peesidents — Eev. Harris Harding, Eev. Enoch 
Towner, Kichard Fletcher, Jacob Tedford. 

Teeasueee — Waitstill Lewis. 

Seceetaey — Thomas Dane. 

Assistant-Seceetaey — Zachariah Chipman. 

And a Committee of forty-six persons. A donation of 
£10 at one time, or 20s. annually, constituted a member of 
the Society. 

In no part of the County now, is there any lack of 
reading matter : and every facility is offered for obtaining 
more. A good work has been initiated, by the foundation 
in the year 1872 of 

A FEEE PUBLIC LIBEAEY AND MUSEUM 

by Mr. L. E. Baker ; but it may fairly be doubted whether 
the institution has, as yet, made an impression, commen- 
surate with its importance. 

Another Institution, notable and influential in its day, 
was the " Yaemouth Liteeaey Society," which was 
formed in 1834. Like the " Book Society " it was, I 
believe, the first of its kind in the Province. During the 
first five years there were sixty lectures delivered by various 
members, many of them evincing great thoughtfulness, 



Mistor^ of Yarmouth. 17? 

close observation, and no inconsiderable reading* The 
chief promoters and supporters of this society were the 
Hon. Stayley Brown and Mr. John Murray, the latter of 
whom was for many years its Presidentb The former 
gentleman is well known as a member of the Legislative 
Council and of the Executive Council of which he is Presi^ 
d€nt. He also holds ihe office of Treasurer of the Province-. 




CHAPTEE XX, 

CfiLEBRATIOlT OI' THE CENTENNIAL. ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
SETTLEMENT OE YARMOUTH. 

W^t^lTK more or less definitenessj as the materials would 
yield to a natural disposition, we have seen the 
County through a hundred years. It is a mark of virtue, 
and of gratitude, to be mindful of birthdays, and to com- 
memorate them. We need not wonder then that when the 
9th of June, 1861, dawned, it was to find no one uninterest- 
ed who called' Yarmouth " Home." And any sketch of her 
history that overlooked that day and its proceedings would 
very justly be considered defective. We have therefore 
thought this to be the most fitting place wherein to insert 
that notice, which all have a right to expect, of the 

CiENTENNlAL CELEBRATION OF THE SETTLEMENT OF 
YARMOUTH. 

The notice here given is the substance of that which was 
published in the papers of the day, the Herald and the 
Tribune, as many readers will no doubt remember : — 

The on© hundredth anniversary of the settlement of Yarmouth fell on 
Sunday the 9th of June, and it was determined to celebrate the eyent on 
Monday the 10th. It was a day long to be remembered. Business was 
wholly suspended, and eyerybody was bent on keeping high holiday. In 
the churches, on Sunday, appropriate reference was made by the officiating 
Clergymen to the Centenary and the Celebration. The memoi-able day 
was ushered in by the booming of cannon at short intervals. At 4 o'clock 
the " Callithumpian Band," numbering forty or fifty spirited young fellows, 



History of Yarmouth. 



179 



in fantastic costumes, on horseback and in vehicles similarly adorned, form- 
ed in procession on the Parade, and went through their " programme" by 
marching first to the northern and then to the southern extremity of the 
Town, to the music of tin trumpets; after which they returned to the 
starting point and dispersed. The Town presented an animated appear- 
ance. Every flag was displayed. A beautiful arch of foliage and flowers 
spanned the street in front of the " Brick Store ;"* and at other points, 




festoons of evergreens and lines of flags overhung the streets. From an 
early hour people were pouring from all parts of the country, which, for 
miles distant must have been well nigh deserted. 

At 8 o'clock the Ai'tillery Company fired a salute of twenty-five guns ; 
and at 9 the Eifles marched to the same ground, the " head quarters" of 
the celebration, fired a salute, and afterwards performed various exercises 
in the military art. 

At 1 o'clock the multitude assembled on and around the Parade, where 
a salute was fired by the Artillery, interspersed with volleys by the Eifles, 
after which the Grand Procession was formed in the following order : — 

Grand Marshal (E. W. B. Moody, Esq.) with the High Sheriff and other 
gentlemen as Assistant Marshals, on horseback ; old inhabitants and officers- 

* As Mr. L. E. Baker's building was then called, it being the only one at 
the time. The cut shows the building as it then was. 



180 History of Yarmouth. 

of militia in carriages; Yarmouth Volunteer Artillery in uniform,' com* 
manded by Captain Edward Heustis ; Yarmouth Brass Band in uniform ; 
Fife and Drum Company; Yarmouth Eifle Volunteer Company in uni- 
form, commanded by Captain Eowley ; Hebron Eiile Company in uniform, 
commanded by Captain J. W. Crosby ; the three Engine Companies, in 
their numerical order, in uniform, with their engines handsomely decor- 
ated and drawn by horses ; a Boat rigged as a brigantine, on wheels, drawn 
by horses ; private carriages and citizens. 

The procession marched first to Cann's Hill, Milton, where a salute was 
iired by the Military Companies, and returned to the Parade. The Mili- 
tary here formed in line in front of the Sunday School children, who, led 
by Mr. Bailey, sang the National Anthem, and "Home, Sweet Home." 
Captain Rowley then proposed three cheers for the Queen— when three 
times three were given. Three cheers were also given for the Volunteers, 
and three more for the old Militia officers. 

The procession then re-formed and proceeding down Main Street, up 
Argyle Street, through Forbes and Eichan Streets, re-entered Main Street. 
On Church Hill the Military Companies fired another salute, and the pro- 
cession once more returned to the Parade, where a final salute was fired. 
It was now past 4 o'clock, and the external display and ceremonies were at 
length to give place to the more intellectual exercises of the day. 

At the western side of the tent a platform had been 
erected for the speakers. Dr. Joseph B. Bond, (Chairman 
of the Committee of Arrangements) took the chair, and 
Dr. G. J. Farish, by the request of the Chairman, read the 
following address :— 

" Fellow Townsmen, — While I deeply feel the honour of being selected 
by the Committee to address you on this great solemnity, I am far from 
insensible to the difficulty of doing justice to the occasion. You are this 
day celebrating the settlement of your Township by the English, at the 
<;lose of its first century. A ceremony is now for the first time being per- 
formed, which no living man has ever witnessed before, — and which no 
one now living can reasonably expect to see repeated. To express all the 
feelings and sentiments that spring up at such a time, — to give them shape 
and form and voice — is beyond individual power. But I feel encouraged 
by knowing that in every sensation that pervades this vast assemblage, I 
can fully sympathize. For, if I view it as a British audience, I can proudly 
say I am a British subject. Are you natives of Nova Scotia ? So am I. 
Are you men of Yarmouth ? So am I. Do you trace your descent from 
the Old Inhabitants ? My father, my grandfather, and my great grand- 
father spent the best portion of their days in promoting the welfare of this 



History of Yarmouth. 181 

my native Town. In all then that fills your hearts this day mine too over- 
flows. 

' There is a land, of every land the pride, 

Beloved by Heaven o'er all the world beside ; 

There is a spot of earth supremely blessed, 

A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest. 

Where shall that land that spot of eartJi be found ? 

Art thou a man ? a patriot ? look around ! 

Oh, thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps roam, 

That land thy Country, and that sjjot, thy Home.' 

" Many may deem such festivals as these, this resuscitation of by-gone 
events, as too fanciful, too trifling to suit the prosaic money-making spirit 
of the age. ' The present,' they say, ' the present is the only important 
' point ; , what is gone, is gone, and we have no more to do with it.' ' What 
'advantage is it ?' they say, ' What's to be made out of it ?' They are per- 
fectly indifferent to all but the present and everything that does not promise 
present profit. In this, I think, they are not right. 

" One hundred years ago your forefathers left their loved and happy 
homes in New England to plant on this soil the flag that waves above you ; 
for you must recollect that all the Northern States were then Brftish, no 
cause for dissatisfaction having yet arisen in the hearts of the Colonists to- 
wards the Mother Country. All who spoke the English language on this 
Continent, or in any other portion of the globe, were then British subjects. 
To that flag which they brought with them, flying from the mast-head of 
the little ' Pompey,' your fathers adhered through good report and evil 
report, — and although many inducements were held out to them during 
the stormy times of the Eevolution, to join in the separation, they always 
stood firmly to those colors, which, I believe, you, their descendants, are 
less inclined at this day to give up, than during any previous period of our 
history. 

"And these Old Fathers! where are they? at rest in their peaceful 
graves. A goodly host of them are sleeping actually within sound of my 
voice, and yet they hear neither me nor the voices of their great-great- 
grandchildren who to-day so sweetly raised their notes in supplication to 
the Giver of all good for a blessing upon our noble Queen. Not even did 
they hear the sharp crack of the rifles, nor the heavy booming of the cannon 
that shook the very ground in which they lie, and above which their grass- 
grown graves now scarcely can be seen. And yet the recollection of them 
has not entirely vanished from the memory of some of us. Many a vener- 
able form which now sleeps quietly there, unconscious of all this uproar 
and rejoicing, is as familiar to my mind as are the faces of their sons and 
grandsons whom I now see before me. 

" And all the eventful history that this day recalls to our memories, as if 



182 History of Yarmouth. 

it were the occurrence of some dozen years ago, took place a century since. 
A century ! who can realize the time ? The longest life seldom reaches so 
far back; memory almost never. And it is a century which has been 
infinitely more eventful than any other equal portion of time since the 
Apostolic age. One hundred years ago steam and electricity, the great 
civilizers of the present age, were scarcely known even to the philosophers 
of the day. Cook had not yet sailed on his first voyage of discovery round 
the world. Australia, New Zealand, and the Isles of the Pacific were almost 
wholly unknown to geographers. George the Third had but just ascended 
the throne ; he reigned sixty years, and died before the memory of most of 
the present assembly. 

" The population of Great Britain was then not half as large as that of the 
American States at present ; and the whole number of British subjects in 
North America was less than three millions. There was no such nation as 
the United States then, and instead of it only a few feeble unimportant 
English Colonies struggling with poverty, and still alarmed by constant 
incursions of the unconquered savages. Canada and Louisiana had just 
been wrested from the French ; and Wolfe ^nd Montcalm had but lately 
fallen in deadly strife before Quebec. A hundred years ago, and the 
scenes in the bloody French Revolution had not been enacted. Louis the 
16th and the hapless Maria Antoinette were yet to fall beneath the axe of 
the guillotine. Napoleon, Wellington and Nelson were unborn ; and the 
names of Austerlitz, Waterloo and Trafalgar, were yet to be written on the 
page of history. 

"And, to come to the subject which to-day more particularly claims our 
attention, — one hundred years ago, yesterday morning, there was not, ex- 
cepting the roaming savage, a single individual residing in the Township, nor 
a single tree cut down where is now assembled this vast concourse of 
people, the largest assemblage ever collected together in Yarmouth ; and 
not one ton of shipping was owned where now we count our forty thous- 
ands. Alas ! that of those whose landing we this day celebrate, not one 
living soul of all is left to join with us in mutual congratulations, and 
thankfulness to the Giver of all good for the innumerable blessings we now 
enjoy, and grateful praises to that benevolent Being to whom alone all the 
glory is due. The primeval rocks indeed remain, and here and there a 
sturdy tree of the olden time may still stretch forth the same branches 
which sheltered your fathers from the summer's sun. The waters of the 
placid harbour still glide gently by us, as when upon its surface the shallops 
of your old forefathers first sailed along the unfrequented shore, — but not 
a man or, woman — not a human being that then floated upon its surface is 
alive to look upon their numerous, prosperous, and happy progeny, assem- 
bled here to day. 



History of Yarmouth. 18^ 

•* Where are the lands our fathers kept 
A hundred years ago ? 
The homes in which they sweetly slept 
A hundred years ago ? 

By other men, 
They knew not then, 
Their lands are tilled, 
Their homes are filled ; — 
Yet nature, then, was just as gay. 
And bright the sun shone as to-day, 
A hundred years ago.' " 
Dr.Farish was followed in animated, appropriate, and eloquent speeches 
by Chas. B. Owen, Esq., Mr. T. M. Lewis, Eev. G. Christie, and Hon. 
Joseph Howe. 

In the evening the Town was brilliantly illuminated, and there was a fine 
display of fireworks on the Parade. The number who took part in, or wit- 
nessed the Celebration has been variously estimated from 6,000 to 8,000. 
There was no accident of any kind. But the great feature of the Celebra- 
tion — that which deserves to be regarded with the most pride — was, that- 
amid all the enthusiasm of the occasion, there was no sign of misconduct 
among a throng by far the largest ever collected in Yarmouth. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



THE TOWN OP YARMOUTH. CHURCHES. SCHOOLS. PRIVATE 
RESIDENCES. BANKS. INSURANCE OFFICES. MANUFAC- 
TURES. AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. SYNOPSIS. STEAM 
BY LAND AND WATER. FISHERIES.. GENERAL 
TRADE. RECAPITULATION. CONCLUSION. 



ll^HE tendency of population is to centralize ; and cen- 
tralization of population means influence. We think 
therefore that a short 

DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY TOWN, 

as the centre of County influence, would not be altogether 
out of place. The harbour, which is two miles long, and 
three quarters broad, is formed by two rocky ridges, which 
run nearly parallel. The town occupies the rising land 
which forms the Western slope of the Eastern ridge ; and 
consists of several long streets lying nearly due North and 
South, which are crossed by numerous others shorter run- 
ning up from the harbour, and intersecting the longer 
ones at nearly right angles. Th'e three principal, are 
Water Street, Main Street, and William Street. Water 
Street as its name indicates, is nearest to, and runs approx- 
imately parallel with the harbour. On it, are the prin- 



History of Yarmouth. 



185 



cipal manufacturing industries, general warehouses and 
stores. Main Street is in some sense, as the name 










'-^E'llliillidl 



suggests, the leading thoroughfare. On it are the principal 
ofl&ces, stores, banks and other places of business. This 
street is nearly two miles long; and the central part of it is 
the kernel of the business section of the Town. William 
Street, the most Easterly principal thoroughfare, is a fine 
straight street, and promises to be the most desirable part 
of the Town for private residences. 

Nothing at first, or for thirty years, gave any distinct 
intimation of the future importance of the Town, where it 
now stands. The " Town Point " at Chebogue, is one, 
among other proofs, of man's intention, that the present 
Town should be a subordinate settlement. And so it long 
continued. In 1764, from Haskill's Brook to Hibbard's 
Corner, which was the main part of the settlement, there 
were but ten houses, and seventy-three souls. In 1787, 
more than twenty years afterwards, there were but seven- 
teen houses in the same district, and one hundred and 
eight souls. And looking the other way, towards Milton, 



186 History of Yarmouth. 

from the Brook, even as late as the year 1793, there were 
but ten houses to the Mill. Or again, from Milton to the 
corner of Wyman's road in the same year, there were on 
the main road, hut twenty-eight houses. And even as late 
as 1805, there were only thirty-eight houses, with about 
two hundred and twenty souls within this whole distance. 
Such was Yarmouth's day of small things, even after 
upwards of forty years had elapsed. We now look around, 
and many of those, who from the circumstance of having 
been born and reared in the Town or its vicinity, might 
have been fairly presumed to have kept pace with its 
onward march, are the least able to fully realize what pro- 
gress has been made. A comparative stranger under the 
circumstances, becomes a more appreciative observer. In 
the younger days of old inhabitants, school building, church 
building, and the like, were state occasions. Now, churches 
and schools are built, banks are established, insurance 
offices are opened, new companies for all kinds of enterprize 
are formed, and unless directly concerned we may be none 
the wiser. 

The primitive Cape Forchue meeting house of 1784, 
with its unglazed windows, seatless interior, the whole 
being guiltless of paint, has given place to ten 

PLACES OF WORSHIP 

within less than two miles, which, for the more part, are at 
once spacious, comfortable, and convenient : features how- 
ever, not more salient than the marked improvement in the 
styles of architecture introduced. 

Beginning at the South end and proceeding Northerly 
from the New Episcopal Sunday School House on the site 




^AINT JoHN'g -pHURCH 



PRESBYTERIAN. 



History of Yarmouth. 187 

of the old Church, a building which has given place to the 
most substantial edifice of that body in the Province, we 
can observe most conveniently the principal features of the 
Town. 

A few hundred yards to the Eastward on Argyle street, 
stands the Temple Church erected in the interests of the 
Baptist body, in 1870. This structure is built partly in 
the earlier or transition period of Gothic architecture, and 
partly in the perpendicular style. The severer views and 
traditions of those who love plainness are somewhat shocked 
in this building; the extent and variety of the interior 
colouring being, without any doubt, unequalled by any other 
building in the Town. Next in order, after we return to 
the Main Street, is the "Providence Church," which 
took the place of the former Methodist Chapel of 1825 ; 
and, although it can lay no claim to architectural decision, 
it is a great advance on its predecessor : whilst a little to 
the West of it, stands the Roman Catholic Chapel, simple 
in structure, but correct in style, which was erected in 1862 
on the site of one smaller. Passing by the Episcopal 
Church on William Street, which has been elsewhere 
referred to, and glancing towards Cliff Street, we see 
that the Presbyterians are nearly ready to take possession 
of new Saint John's, of which we insert a view. This 
building which is in the Romanesque style, and which will 
be capable of meeting all the wants of the congregation, 
takes the place of that which was erected in 1841. This 
body of christians has been served by the Rev. George 
Christie, for more than a quarter of a century ; he having 
assumed the pastoral charge in 1849, as successor to the 



188 History of Yarmouth. 

late Mr. Eoss, who lives in tlie memory of those who knew 
him, as a faithful pastor and an able preacher. We next 
come to what was the old Cape Forchub meeting house 
of 1784. But the characteristic great porch which stood in 
front of it, has gone ; and what between alterations in 
length and height, and the addition of a spire, and having 
been made otherwise, as far as practicable^, abreast of 
modern ideas, its character is completely changed. Before 
the year 1800, the house was the property of the Congre- 
gationalists ; but in that year, in the language of the 
Chronicler of 'the Life and Times of Harris Harding,' 
" Mr. Harding's friends literally stole an entrance into the 
"house; from which they were not afterwards ejected."* 
The very day and occasion are yet fresh in the memory of 
one, perhaps the only one, who was present and who is still 
living, and whose graphic description is worthy of record in 
her own words : — f 

" On a Sunday morning in the year 1800, 1 went up to the new meeting 
" house at Milton. It being a fine summer day a large congregation had 
" collected. The building was small and unfinished ; a carpenter's bench 
" serving for a pulpit, with the aid of a chair in front of the preacher. 
" The men sat on the south side, the women on the north. After Mr. 
" Harding had proceeded a short time with the service, he said ' I think 
" this place is too small for us, let us adjourn to the old meeting house ;' so, 
" of course, I came down with the crowd, men women and children, a few 
" on horseback, the rest on foot, with Mr. Harding at the head ; but when 
" they reached their destination the doors were locked. What was to be 
" done ? ' Where there's a will, there is generally a way.' One of the 
" number ran round to the back of the building, threw up a window, jumped 
" in and unbolted the door, which being a double one, at once flew open, 
"when all rushed in, and a meeting was held. The proprietors of this 

* P. 73 of Life and Times. 

t Since press arrangements were made, this venerable lady, — the late 
Mrs. Farish — has departed this life, full of years and full of honour. She 
died on February the 20th, 1876, in her 87th year, and was interred in the 
old church burying ground. 



v^■>^^i■.r •■T»^T-^|^p?< 







^^ 




History of Yarmouth. 189 

" meeting house were very much opposed to the movement, as it was justly 
" their property. One of them would not even allow the remains of his 
" father to repose in the burying ground attached to it, but had them 
" removed to his own farm at Chebogue." 

The first person interred in the okl graveyard beloiv the 
meeting house, was Mrs. Brown, the mother of old Mr. 
Benj. Brown, about the year 1766 : whilst in the upper, or 
eastern graveyard, the first interred was Mr. Zachariah 
Corning.* 

At some distance to the northward stands the Tabee- 
NACLE Church, noteworthy as embodying more correct 
details of ecclesiastical architecture, when it was built in 
1850, under the energetic ministry of the Kev. F. Tomkins, 
than any other similar structure in the Province. 

As we approach Milton, the name of which ("Mill 
Town") gives its own history, where in 1790, thirty years 
after settlement, there were not more than five houses, the 

* The mention of those grounds reminds me that there is a very large 
number of localities in the Gounty which mark the resting places of the 
dead. The oldest are probably those at Pubnico, at Durkee's Island, and 
at Chegoggin; which were French burial grounds. Various Tumuli, or 
mounds, mark Indian graves ; and others, as at Chegoggin, where the Hes- 
sian soldier or officer was buried, mark individual places of sepulture. Old 
burial places are still to be seen at Bunker's Island and on Crocker's Point. 
The oldest, and by far the most interesting English burying ground, is 
that at Chebogue. There may be read the little that is now known of the 
great body of the first settlers; The old Episcopal Church burying ground 
was opened in 1808 ; the first person who was interred in it bemg Mrs. 
Joseph Bell. 

There are several others in different parts of the County, each the most 
interesting to those who have dear ones lying in them. But since the year 
1861, when the Mountain Cemetery was opened there has been a very 
general tendency on the part of those resident in the Town, as well as those 
in the vicinity, to use that very suitable and beautiful spot almost exclus- 
ively. There is no place of public interest or resort that is more justly 
esteemed than the Cemetery. Nature has done much to make it suitable : 
and judicious planning has still further made it beautiful, if not perfect. 



190 History of Yarmouth. 

spires of the Wesley and tlie Baptist places of worship 
tell of increase in numhers and wealth.* The former was 
built in 1864, and supplanted the original structure, which 
has been since converted into a temperance hall ; whilst 
the latter was finished in 1873. 
Similarly, the principal 

SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

in the three sections, into which the Town is divided, 
standing out with marked prominence on the ridge of high 
land which forms the crest of the Town, tell their own tale. 
Before 1836, in which year the building long known as the 
Academy, was raised by the Yarmouth Education Society, 
there was no school edifice in the Town worthy of the name ; 
and now, the unsolicited expression of observant visitors is, 
that those structures vie in every respect with the foremost 
kindred institutions on the Continent. The building 
known as the Seminary, which is partly used as a High 
School, and partly rented by the Governors to the Trustees 
of the central section for Common School purposes, is as 
noble and harmonious in design as the projected institu- 
tion was spirited in its inception. The Seminary having 
been raised before the other sections had built, suggested 
a model, which to some extent has been followed with ex- 
cellent effect. 

Having thus briefly noticed the Churches and School 

* In 1798 the Milton district could not repair its own little bridge ; and 
the surveyors of other districts were directed by the Sessions to help them. 
Possibly the inhabitants were still suffering from the effects of the serious 
freshet of 1792, Sept 20th, which carried away the mills, the mill bridge, 
the dyke at Arcadia, and did similar great damage in other parts of the 
Township. 




2 

UJ 

UJ 

O 
W 

o 
z 

u 

Q 

per 



t4 
Q 

oi 

o 
o 



History of Yarmouth. 191 

Buildings in the Town, we may be reasonably expected to 
make some reference to 

PRIVATE RESIDENCES. 

Living descendants of the earliest comers can yet tell us 
tales which they have heard in their youth, of rude huts, and 
of chinks between the logs stuffed with moss, who them- 
selves live as merchant princes in palatial homes. Such 
costly buildings are not few, and their number as well as 
their size and completeness, excite the admiration, if not 
the envy of all who visit them. To refer to individual cases 
seems almost invidious, but in this connection the estab- 
lishments of Samuel Killa,m, Esq. and J. K. Ryerson, Esq, 
are particularly worthy of mention. And here the reader 
will find a view of the residence of L. E. Baker, Esq., as 
well as of that of N. K. Clements, Esq., who is elsewhere 
referred to, with respect to our steam navigation ; and 
whose spirited connection with the origin and progress of 
the Tabernacle Church, the Seminary, and other public 
institutions and conveniences, is too well understood to call 
for any eulogium. 

If we ask what agencies represent the powers that call 
those churches, schools, and residences into being, we 
point to numerous and increasing Insurance Offices, Banks 
and manufacturing industries. When the "Polly" was 
lost in 1777, there were no Insurance Offices on which to 
fall back for loss of vessel, freight or cargo ; and it is a 
note-worth;^ circumstance that the first Marine Insurance 
Broker in Yarmouth, — Mr. Benjamin Barnard — was the 
nephew of John, who was captain and owner of the first 
vessel which vras lost out of the port. Now there are the 



192 ■ History of Yarmouth 

"Maeine," the "Acadian," the "Commercial," the ''At^ 
LANTic," the "Pacific," and the " Oriental." In those 
sis offices nearly all the shipping in the port is insured ; 
and the aggregate of their annual risks is upwards of 
$6,000,0005- whilst the premiums paid to insure that 
amount nearly reach 1500,000. 

^'Pay and go " was the necessary pHnciple of the Hamlet 
Fathers. And indeed till 1839, when an Agency of the 
Bank of Nova Scotia was estahlished, there were none of 
the privileges of that kind of institution availahle* This 
Agency continued for] more than a quarter of a century to 
foe the only accommodation of the kind— first under the 
joint management of the Hon. James Bond and the Hon* 
Stayley Brown ; and now under that of our respected citizen 
James Murray, Esq. The Bank of Yarmouth which was 
incorporated in 1859, and which commenced operations in 
1865; and later still, in 1869 the Exchange Bank, have 
sprung into existence, with a paid up capital of between 
$600,000 and $700,000. Already the former has its own 
building, and ere long, the latter will be similarly equipped. 
Meanwhile, under the presidency respectively of L. E. 
Baker, Esq., and A. C. Bobbins Esq., each of them 
gratifies its stockholders with ample dividends. By the 
influence of those monetary powerSj industries of all kinds 
are assisted and promoted. And, in March, 1876, a 
Building Society was formed in the Town, the primary 
purpose of which is to assist shareholders of liniited means 
to acquire or improve property ; the money borrowed being 
repaid by easy instalments. This institution has yet to 
establish its claim to be a valuable social addition, inas» 
much as it is still in its infancy. 




> 

< 



UJ 



History of Yarmouth, 19S 

We are apt to think tliat 

OUR MANUFACTURINa INTERESTS 

are tut of yesterday; and, in their magnitude, they 
are. But as early as June 1770, nine years after the 
settlement, the chimney of a potash manufactory reared 
its head, amid the forest trees of Chebogue,* and now, 
where there is no longer a tree to be seen, there is, on 
the Water Street of the Yarmouth Harbour, a forest of 
chimneys belching out thick volumes of smoke, connected 
with works such as Kinney, Haley & Co., and Burrill, 
Johnson & Co., — establishments which will bear favour- 
able comparison with the best in the country. Kinney, 
Haley & Co's business stand, of which we here insert a 
view, cost about $20,000, — and the business transacted 
during each year, in all the departments, including 
factory, corn mill, and the barrel factory, is about 
$100,000. The premises of Messrs. Burrill, Johnson 
& Co. have cost about $100,000, and the annual busi- 
ness transactions, or sales, are about $130,000. In this 
connection, although not in the Town of Yarmouth, 
the double gang steam saw mill at Tusket,' owned by 
Andrew Mack & Co., deserves notice. This mill, together 
with the timber lands, cost upwards of fifty thousand 
dollars; and is capable of producing annually about six 
million feet of lumber; and, so far, during the working 
season, the annual business done has amounted to about 
$350,000. 

Much of the material prosperity of fce Town, depends on 

*A primitive merchant gives credit to certain debtors, for bushels of 
ashes, bricks, lumber and labour. 



194 History of Yarmouth. 

the extension of such industries; and to those ah-eady 
named may also be added the 

MARINE RAILWAY 

which was huilt in 1870, — an institution which is as great 
a convenience to the shipping interest, as it is capable of 
proving a lucrative investment -to its stockholders. The 
construction of Gasworks, the stockholders of which were 
incorporated in 1862 ;* the convenience of the Telegraph, 
which was first used in 1851 ; the several companies of 
firemen with their efficient engines, the first of which was 
imported from Boston, September 5th, 1840 — are all marks 
of a growing community. 

Whatever other societies or organizations are unnamed, 
honourable mention ought to be made of the 

YARMOUTH COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES, 

which, although they are co-extensive with the County and 
Township, have their centre of influence in the Town. 
The one hundred and seventy-five cultivated acres of 1764, 
have given place to fifty thousand : the one hundred and 
fifty-six sheep to ten thousand : and the two hundred and 
seventy-two cattle to ten thousand. The poorer breeds are 
yielding to better imported stocks ; the. rude and inefficient 
implements of a bye-gone epoch, are rapidly giving way to 
improved farming instruments ; weedy and poor land is 
being transformed into land, comparatively rich and well 
drained ; and certainly, very much of this improvement is 
directly due to those societies, t 

* The streets of the Town were lighted by gas for the first time on the 
night of May 9th, 1871. 

t The exertions of Mr. Charles E. Brown on behalf of a more intelligent 
system' of farming, ought to be recorded in this connection. 



History of Yarmmith. 



195 



The following is a 

SYNOPSIS 

of the number of Houses, Inhabitants, Cattle, and 
Vessels in the Township of Yarmouth up till 1848 : and 
and afterwards of those in the County ; with the authority 
for each Summary or Census : — 







1 


© 






Autliorities. 







4 


^ 


a> 


a 
a 






o 


3 


a 


1 


o 
















r Eev. Jon. Scott, and 


1761 


12 


85 


56 


1 


25 


1 authentic statements 
[ of old settlers. 


1762 


12 


uncertain 


uncertain 


4 


80 


Idem. 


1764 


34 


246 


272 


5 


110 


f Eet'n made by John 
[ Crawley, Esq. 
[Papers left by late 


1767 


50 


400 


uncertain 


7 


156 


-J Dr. Farish, and 
1 other sources. 


1790 


200 


1,300 


1,420 


26 


544 


j Census taken by J. 
1 N. Bond, M. JD. 


1808 


' 340 


2,300 


2,000 


41 


1,880 


r Papers left by Dr. 
\ Farish. 


1818 


450 


3,200 


3,000 


65 


3,000 


Idem. 


1828 


620 


4,350 


4,000 


90 


5,000 


Idem. 


1838 


930 


6,500 


unknown 


119 


9,209 


r Eet'ns by J. Tooker^ 
1 Esq, 


1848 


1,250 


9,000 


unknown 


123 


17,000 


/Eet'ns by Z. Chip- 
\ man, Esq. 







The years following are 


County 


— 


1851 


2,055 


13,141 


8,386 


110 


18,000 


Census Eeturns. 


1861 


2,446 


15,446 


10,132 


149 


39,713 


Census Papers. 


1871 


3,202 


18,550 


10,144 


262 


90,668 


Dominion Census. 



Upon no part of the Work has more care been bestowed 
than on this Table : nor does any part of it convey to the 
reflecting reader a more intelligent idea of the rate and 
character of the progress of this County. 

steam' communication 
by water, both with the Provinces and the neighbouring 
States, we enjoy. Much credit in this department is due 



^ 



196 History of Tarmouth. 

to N. K. Clements, Esq., who lias proved himself, amidst 
discouraging circumstances, the unwearying promoter of 
the public interests of his native Town. The first steamer 
that was ever seen in this harbour was the " Saxe Gotha," 
in 1842. And unbroken steam communication by land we 
shall soon enjoy. The Westeen Counties' Eailway 
Company was incorporated in 1871. In September 1873 
the first contract was made ; and since then, the Township 
has become interested in one way and another, to the 
extent of about $400,000, and the Dominion Government>, 
as vi^ell as the Local Legislature, have aided a work, which, 
however opinions may vary as to what would have been the 
route best calculated to develope the future interests of the 
County generally, is yet one in which every inhabitant is 
deeply interested. Considering the difficulties which had 
to be encountered, the progress which has been made in 
the work is characteristic of the people who promote the 
undertaking. On September 3rd, 1874, the first rail was 
laid ; on the 20th of the following month, the Pioneer, — 
the first Locomotive arrived; and, in less than a month 
from that date, the road was in working order, as far as 
Hebron. The trial trip made a few days after the engine 
arrived is thus described in the Herald, the account in 
which is more suited for these pages, than that in its 
more imaginative and poetical contemporary — the Tri- 
bune : — 

" The Locomotive ' Pioneer,' having been put in working order, made a 
short trial trip on Tuesday afternoon, accompanied, of course, by its tender. 
The ' train,' crowded with passengers, started from the terminus near the 
head of Lovitt's wharf, and proceeded about two miles, or a short distance 
above Milton, when it returned to the starting point. Throngs of persons, 
<?f both sexes, lined the route, enthusiastically cheering, waving haudker- 



History of Yarmouth. 197 

chiefs, &c., while the 'Pioneer' responded by the ringing of the bell and 
occasional blasts of the whistle. Horses, who were spectators of the unusual 
scene, did not like the appearance nor the neighing of the ' iron horse ' 
whom they eridently regarded as an intruder, and were with difBculty 
restrained from putting their own locomotive powers to the test, whilst 
cattle bounded off in every direction from the tra'ck, and even the domestic 
fowls scampered off to their respective domiciles with an energy that was 
amusing to witness." 

The difficulties which threatened to interfere with the 
continued progress of the works on the Kailway were happily- 
overcome by the well known Montreal firm of Shanly & 
Plunkett assuming in October 1875 all the responsibility 
attached to the carrying of the work through to a success- 
ful issue. The officers of the Company and the Contractors 
naet in Halifax in the November following, and then com- 
pleted all their arrangements. The line will probably not 
terminate short of a point which will admit of continuous 
steam traffic, summer and winter, by land and water. 

There is a County interest of the first moment, upon 
which we havgr but touched — I mean • 

THE FISHEEIES. 

Making every allowance for the apocryphal tales of the good 
old times when the Tusket was so full of salmon, that the 
only way the fish could get up the river, was over each 
other's backs ; there is no doubt but that carelessness and 
other causes have very greatly injured many of the river 
fisheries. Under the new act of 1868, there is however a 
very marked improvement already. In the one article of 
salmon the yield of which in 1869 was 4,000 !bs. ; there 
has been an increase of 500 per cent. ; the yield in 1873 
having been about 20,000 fts. : and the value of all the fish, 
fresh water and salt, — caught in the County in that year, 
was about $450,000. 



198 History of Yarmouth. 

Eeference to the fisheries suggests some notice of 

OUR HOME AND FOREIGN TRADES. 

Since the year 1787 when Yarmouth was made a Port, and 
when the duties were scarcely appreciable, the business of 
the County has steadily increased. The gross Imports 
amount to about $700,000, the principal and most valuable 
part of which consists of materials for fitting and furnishing 
ships. The gross annual Exports, which consist chiefly of 
Lumber and Fish, amount to about $300,000. Looked at in 
this way, we are placed in the apparent position of being im- 
provident and extravagant, inasmuch as we seem to consume 
more than we produce. But if, as is at once fair, and neces- 
sary for getting at the truth, the annual production of vessel 
property be brought into the account, as a kind of export, — 
allowance being made for the value of the imported material, 
such as rigging and the like, — the amount of property an- 
nually sent out of the Port, amounts to about $1,500,000. 
One little item illustrating the increasing home trade, as 
well as the altering condition of our social life, is the fact 
that about the year 1799 the then collector imported half a 
chaldron of coal, the first brought into the County ; and in 
1875 the amount imported was over twelve thousand tons. 

RECAPITULATION. 

The past history of this County is one of progress. We 
have seen eighty-five souls become well nigh twenty thous- 
and; and the one little schooner of 25 tons has yielded to a 
fleet of upwards of 250 vessels, representing a total of more 
than 130,000 tons : a tonnage more than eighty times that 
of Liverpool, England, and nearly one half the tonnage of 
the whole kingdom, in the reign of Charles the second.* 

* Macaulay Vol. I, pp. 268 and 272. 



History of Yarmouth. 199 

"We liave seen intricate Indian trails and crooked cow- 
paths give place to numerous highways, well made, graded 
and levelled, intersecting the County in every direction. 
From there being but a few barley and potatoe patches, 
surrounded by unbroken forests, we see around us upwards 
of fifty thousand acres of improved lands. We have seen 
a share of land containing six hundred and sixty-six acres, 
sold for iGlO, and we have lately heard of a piece of ground 
less than a hundred feet square being sold for ^6000 : 
the aggregate value of all property, real and personal, in 
the Township of Yarmouth alone, being probably well nigh 
ten millions of dollars.* We have seen the inhabitants 
obliged to go a hundred miles to register a deed, or try a 
caL\se, and that without any kind of road, and now their 
descendants have every such convenience at their very doors. 
From scarcely any but the most precarious means of com- 
munication with even Halifax or St. John, not to mention 
England, we see several daily mails brought in from all 
parts ; and by means of the electric telegraph we can be 
in hourly communication with the most distant countries. 

ilnd still the march is onward. Institutions indicative 
of industry, perseverance, and enterprize, are ever sprino-ino- 
into life, affording, if necessary, additional substantial evi- 



* With increasing public wealth, there must be apparentlj increasing 
public burdens. In 1771, the Poor Rate in the Township of Yarmouth 
was about twenty pounds; whe.reas now — allowance being made for the 
temporarily increased tax to meet the cost of the new Asylum for the poor 
which tax has now ceased — the average annual rate is about one thousand 
pounds : and the public burdens of all kinds, now amount to about §30,000 
per annum. But nothing is plainer than that the Township is more than 
five hundred per cent, richer than it was a hundred years ago ; or, that it 
is much easier for us to bear the rates which are levied on us, than it was 
for the handful of first settlers to bear theirs. 



200 History of Yarmouth. 

dence of public and private intelligence. Ere long, land 
communication by steam will add to, or rather complete, 
our convenience for travelling, vs'liilst it will develope inter- 
ests as yet not fully appreciated, only because not fully 
understood. One word in 

CONCLUSION. 

In undertaking this work, I have permitted my sympathies 
to go out far beyond the comparatively narrow limits of 
those with whom I am more immediately associated, and 
whom it is my more immediate duty to serve. But I have 
learned to take an interest in whatever affects the well- 
being-of the whole. I now leave the subject, which was 
not undertaken too soon, as the obituary columns of the 
local press will testify, by expressing the fervent hope that 
the same good qualities which has served to elevate this 
community, may continue increasingly active ; that the 
evil which is absent, and which would mar our character 
and reputation, may never come near us ; that we may re- 
member and acknowledge the fact, that if we are prosperous, 
it is God that giveth us power to get wealth ; that we may 
ever be just and true in all our dealings, for it is righteous- 
ness alone that exalteth a people ; that our magistrates may 
ever have grace to execute justice and maintain" truth; 
that our politicians may be fearlessly honest and not to be 
corrupted ; and that the ministers of religion may ever be 
ready to speak the truth : for, by these means only can we 
reasonably hope that ''peace and happiness, truth and jus- 
" tice, religion and piety, may be established among us for 
" all generations." 

FINIS^ 



.» -J. 






-r^S^^^.^, 










'''■: /■r 



Vc 



